The Cleveland Cavaliers’ recent struggles have the team fighting to keep the top spot in the East. However, it has already cost LeBron James another MVP.
It’s incredibly challenging to say that someone who is averaging 26.0 points, 8.8 assists, and 8.4 rebounds per game is no longer a candidate to receive the MVP award, but it may be time to release LeBron James from the top contenders for the 2016-17 Most Valuable Player award.
Take LeBron’s numbers from this season and apply them toward any season over the past 10 years and he probably takes the award home comfortably.
But the 2016-17 season doesn’t work like that. While LeBron’s numbers are undeniably worthy of him receiving his fifth MVP, there are three other players who actually deserve it more.
James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook (yes, in that order, folks) are all having MVP-caliber seasons that surpass the season LeBron is having right now.
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It is an insane statement, but it’s the truth. All three of those guys are having better seasons than LeBron.
Cleveland Cavaliers
After the Cleveland Cavaliers dropped another game — this time on the road against the Chicago Bulls — on Thursday night, it was long past the time to re-evaluate LeBron’s season compared to these other players.
Taking games off to rest definitely did LeBron no favors in trying to snatch the award from the trio of Western Conference mega-stars.
Factor in the games off with the simple fact that the Cavaliers are plummeting this late in the season, with LeBron seemingly taking more and more plays off as each game goes by and it’s hard to make a case for him when looking past hard numbers.
Russell Westbrook just finessed a 57-point triple-double in a win, James Harden recently strung together four straight triple-doubles and Kawhi Leonard continues to lead an inferior roster to the second-best record in the deadly Western Conference.
The sluggish play style we have seen from LeBron over the past few weeks and his attitude both on and off the court has effectively killed his chances of winning the MVP this season.
There are simply more players doing just as much — if not more — and are playing every single game as if it might be their last ever.
"“We’re just in a bad spot right now. Not disappointed with the effort. We’re just in a bad spot.” James said following Thursday night’s loss to the Chicago Bulls."
It’s not just the team that’s in a bad spot, it’s also LeBron. And while he may say he isn’t disappointed with the team’s effort, I sure as hell am, and I’m more disappointed with his individual effort.
The last few weeks of the season is generally where the MVP race is ultimately decided, which is unfortunate because of how long the season is and how long each respective player has been excelling. However, this is the time when players have to prove to everybody that they deserve it.
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More and more casual fans will begin to watch the NBA as the season winds down and the playoffs begin to ramp up, which swings the momentum of potential MVPs depending on how they are playing in the last 15-20 games of the season.
Public opinion is a huge factor in the MVP race, even though it isn’t decided by the fans.
You better believe that the people who vote are going to see the hundreds of posts and tweets linking to different videos and stat lines of Westbrook’s 57-point triple-double in a win against the Orlando Magic before you see highlights of LeBron’s 26 points in a loss against the Bulls.
Luckily for LeBron, the Cavs still have eight more games to play this season, giving him a chance to showcase just exactly what he means to the Cavs and hopefully aid in regaining control of the top spot in the East — which is a factor voters will definitely take into account.
Unluckily for LeBron; Westbrook, Harden and Leonard also still have plenty of games left to play and will go into those games playing the best basketball of their careers.
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The race isn’t over yet, but if LeBron doesn’t start to change his attitude on the court, he won’t even be in the same breath as the James Hardens and Russell Westbrooks of the NBA’s MVP world.