NBA: 25 players who should have won MVP in retrospect

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 05: NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson speaks during the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Year press conference prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 5, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) /

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Larry Bird (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /

NBA: 25 players who should have won MVP in retrospect: 17. Larry Bird, 1987-88

The sheer dominance of Michael Jordan forced archaic voters to look away from overall team records. His ability to demoralize defenders with aerial assaults seemed unfair and otherworldly. The 1987-88 campaign was one of his very best. Jordan gave defenders headaches by leading the league in scoring with a cool 35 points per game. He was a menace on defense too, leading the league in steals with 3.2 per game en route to taking home Defensive Player of the Year.

There’s no denying how great Jordan played that season, but it’s difficult coming to grips that Larry Bird wasn’t handed the award. The all-time Celtics legend poured in 29.9 points per game, 9.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. For what it’s worth, Bird was a supremely better shooter than Jordan, averaging 41.4 from beyond the arc while Jordan threw up brick after brick to the tune of 13.2 percent from three.

Bird effortlessly joined the 50/40/90 club but Jordan had significantly more win shares, 21.2 to 15.0. The award could have gone either way here, and while Jordan wasn’t an awful choice, we simply believe Bird should have been given the nod to the closeness of their numbers and Bird’s Celtics winning seven more games.