NBA MVP Ladder 3.0 all about respecting elders; LeBron James remains on top

Kawhi Leonard hasn’t lost any ground in the MVP race, even as he’s missed 10 of the LA Clippers‘ first 42 games. Eight of those came during back-to-backs and he also missed two games in mid-November with a bruised knee.

But he hasn’t gained any ground, either.

Since the last MVP Ladder on Dec. 21, Leonard has played in 10 of LA’s 12 games, averaging 28.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals in 33.1 minutes per game while shooting 49.1 percent overall, 39.1 percent on 6.4 3-point attempts per game and a stellar 94.7 percent on 5.7 foul shots a game.

Leonard scored a season-high 43 points on Monday against the Cavaliers, just two off his career-high set last season while he was with the Toronto Raptors, and he has scored at least 30 points in his last four games, matching the second-longest run of his career. Leonard had 30 or more in six straight games from Jan. 10-21, 2017, when he was with the San Antonio Spurs.

The Clippers were 8-4 over the last 12 games, 7-3 with Leonard in uniform. Five of the team’s 13 losses this season have come when Leonard was unavailable — they are 5-5 in the games he’s missed, 24-8 when he’s played. That sort of defines “most valuable,” so long as he can stay in the lineup enough not to have voters turn on him.

For the season, Board Man is averaging 26.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.9 steals in 32.0 minutes per game on a shooting line of .465/.371/.890, taking 5.3 3-point attempts and 6.6 free throw tries a night.