On second thought, why not?
Posted March 31st, 2006 by Brian Windhorst
So I got my MVP ballot from the NBA today.
Back in February when I was at the All-Star Game in Houston, I worked up this story about how LeBron James wasn’t really a competitor for the Most Valuable Player Award this season. I backed it with plenty of commentary from voters and my own individual research. I fully believed it then and stand behind that story.
However…
After watching LeBron’s performance in March, when he averaged 32.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 14 games, my mind is being swayed. In February I was sold on voting for Steve Nash again for the MVP because the Suns were just as good as last season without Amare Stoudemire and a bunch of different players. I also liked the idea of voting for Nash because it affirmed my decision to cast my vote him last season when myself and 126 other voters picked him over Shaq in a very tight race. For this, I might add, the Miami Herald’s Dan LeBatard inferred that I was a racist and, I suppose, anti-American. If I remember correctly, I had LeBron fifth on my ballot (you list five names) and he finished sixth.
While I’d probably still cast my vote for Nash, I am getting closer and closer to seriously considering giving James my vote. Of course I could be called biased because I see him every day. But when you think of where the Cavs would be without him, it gives so much weight to the argument. Yes, Nash did it without Stoudemire but James carried his team without Larry Hughes. Not that it is equal, then again the Suns are just simply better than the Cavs. As I pointed out in the story, the last time a player from a team that didn’t win 50 games won the MVP was in 1982. The Cavs probably aren’t going to get to 50 and James isn’t going to win. But knowing my fellow voters, watching what he’s done down the stretch is going to pave the way for him to win it in the future.
Some other things:
–I get the Cavs point in not celebrating making the playoffs, but this would’ve been an appropriate moment to pound their chests. I mean, they shoot off fireworks before every game and have confetti rain down when they win games, so it isn’t like they lead the league in being stoic.
–The other night LeBron said he was a football player first and didn’t mind taking hits. Well, not that I’m willing to get clubbed in the head by DJ Mbenga nor have I ever played wide receiver, but I did watch LBJ play football in high school. I know the highlights you’ve seen and all, but not he almost never went across the middle, he was also rather infamous for alligator-arming when defenders were around on the sideline (that photo aside). Not that I blame him with that million-dollar body, but I think the truth should be told.
–The NBA breaks up the votes for awards, not every traveling beat writer gets a vote for everything. I will make my own decision on the MVP, but I’m more than willing to listen to blog loyalists input on my vote for the All-NBA team, All-Defensive team, Most Improved Player and Rookie of the Year.
–Might want to check out these Cavs sites I’ve been to recently: Cavsworld and the LeBron Meter.
–I see my appearance on Cold Pizza was picked on by some blog readers. I must say it was traumatic, they made me wear makeup (I can’t imagine how this leaves the door open for Tucker) and then I had to go cover practice. Lucky, no one noticed, even on my ears (alas, yes, they did!)
March 31st, 2006 at 8:31 am
Brian-
Ive been telling my friends the past week that james could win MVP if the Cavaliers make a run to 50 wins. In addition to carrying the team on his back, and posting numbers only seen from Robertson and Jordan.. James has played every night, he’s played hurt, he’s even had a couple occasions when he’s asked to be the team’s situational defensive stopper (on Iverson, and Nowitzki).
The Suns are 6 games better right now, but as James has stepped his game up, Nash’s is seemingly faltering (he put up an o-fer against NJ, and then charlie bell went trip-doub on him).
I think silas said it best about james when he said, “Whatever we need, he provides.” More so now than ever.
The question is whether he’s only convicing us Cavaliers watchers, or if the national media will see it over the next couple of weeks too. (i assume the voters wait until the last game of the regular season is in the books before submitting)
Do you think if he was genuinely the best candidiate there would be some hating (or ‘haterism’ as Northcutt would say) because he is so young?
Individual awards aside, you have to love how every time someone says james cannot do something, it doesnt take long before he’s doing it on a regular basis. Maybe next year’s Cavs would be better off if james feels he was mvp-snubbed this season.
keep up the good work,
Matt
March 31st, 2006 at 10:57 am
Negative idiot obsessed with the perception of being unbiased. Just like most of the writers in this town.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:59 am
Hey, there’s no need for name calling, Mark! Idiot. (ha)
March 31st, 2006 at 11:21 am
Suppose the Cavs clinch the #4 seed by beating the Wizards on April 16.
Could anyone on Earth convince Coach Brown he wouldn’t need to play LeBron 45+ minutes in the last two meaningless games vs. Boston and Atlanta?
(Hopefully the Cavs clinch it with a Washington loss in Milwaukee on the 12th, but either way the question still stands . . . )
March 31st, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Windhorst, why do you automatically assume I have a problem with you in makeup? All of the great sportswriters of the 20th century wore makeup, did they not? If not for makeup, would we know who Grantland Rice was? Highly unlikely. So who am I to say that sportswriter Brian Windhorst is not permitted to appear on “The View” wearing rose rouge on his cheeks, blue shadow over his eyes and silver sprinkles in his hair? You must have looked absolutely fabulous. Did you Ashlee Simpson your way through ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” or did you have integrity and sing live?
Speaking of guys wearing makeup, whatever happened to that broad on “Cold Pizza” that applied her makeup with a spatula and had a massive set of horse teeth? She looked like the secret love child of Ronald McDonald and Seabiscuit. They replaced her with Dana Jacobson, and the producers gave Jacobson a total image makeover to make her look very similar to the horse teeth clown chick she replaced. What’s she doing these days? I mean, other than grazing with Mayor McCheese through soft rolling fields of Kentucky bluegrass.
March 31st, 2006 at 1:01 pm
As an addendum to the previous post, I simply cannot leave this subject without first wondering: Why do you attend practices wearing makeup on your ears? I can understand the fishnet stockings and crotchless panties, but ear makeup, too? Listen, I don’t mean to make fun of sportswriters with birth defects, but what kind of deformity requires a highly-trained team of makeup artists to feverishly work on a pair of ears to keep the TV viewing public from losing their collective breakfast?
March 31st, 2006 at 4:47 pm
Since when does the media cast a vote for the all-defensive team?
Why not cast your own blog vote for some other category that readers will really get into. For example, ugliest guy currently playing in the NBA. Remember, Gheorghe Muresan is now retired, so who would you vote for? Or, since you have a thing for ear makeup, who would get your vote for the player with the goofiest ears in the last 25 years? Popeye Jones? Or maybe keep it local, for hardcore Cleveland Cavaliers fans only, something that only a beat writer would really, really know. Isn’t that the role of an NBA beat journalist, to give your readers the access they will never otherwise have? Give them real locker room access. For example, who is the Cavaliers player with the worst personal hygiene? Or who has the most ridiculous personal hygiene, like which Cavaliers player(s) will use a blow dryer to dry their boys? Or real hotel lobby and hotel bar access. Which Cavaliers player bangs the most skank groupies? Or cheapest. Which Cavaliers player uses the hotel lobby payphone instead of the room phone so he can save himself one dollar? I read another beat writer saying that Donyell Marshall did this when he was with the Warriors. Does he still do it? These are things your readers want to know.
Who cares about the other stuff. Nash deserves the MVP, Paul is the best rookie, most improved give to Boris Diaw, but then again, Diaw might be better only because Nash made him better. So give it to Dwight Howard.
April 1st, 2006 at 2:41 am
I find it curious that everyone seems to agree Nash is the frontrunner for MVP. It’s hard to justify statistically.
Nash may lead the NBA in assists (I’m not sure) but he’s just over 10 per game. That’s down from last year and really not as impressive as the 30-plus points other NBA players have scored. Excepting errors in baseball, assists are probably the most notoriously subjective stat in sports.
Nash also leads the league in turnovers, scores less than 20 pts. a game and, for a guy who seems so active, makes surprisingly few steals, .74 a game.
Watching the Suns, its obvious how good he is offensively and how important he is to the team. But you could say the same about Dwayne Wade, Dirk Nowitzki or LeBron.
In any case, maybe LeBatard has a point about the media’s treatment of Nash in general, though it seems awfully strange for him to call out an Akron beat reporter.
April 1st, 2006 at 6:25 am
Actually, LeBatard wrote a column implying race had something to do with how the MVP voting went last season. As a white MVP voter who cast a ballot for Nash, it was aimed at people like me. It tried to find the link, but it isn’t online anymore.
Call me an idiot, but it is reporters’ job to be unbiased, which many fans read as negative. Of course I write from a Cavs perspective and most of the time it is better to cover a winning team rather than a losing team.
I view my job as being a watchdog for the team’s moves and play and their relation to the rest of the league as well as to maintain perspective in the big picture.
April 1st, 2006 at 9:18 am
I can’t find the link either, but I remember reading that column. LeBatard is a good writer, and that column did have its points. It’s naive to believe race doesn’t play a role in the NBA. If not for the absolute need to keep white guys in the NBA, they never would have created the three-point arc or legalized the zone defense. And I think some writers did vote for Nash because he’s white. Maybe not our caucasian blog host, but some writers certainly.
With respect to Nash’s season, you’re missing the point, Larry. The Suns are missing THREE starters from last year, none of whom averaged less than 36 minutes per game. The very best of those three completely dominated the Spurs in the playoffs. He was freakin’ awesome. So the Suns bring in a bunch of new players, none with any semblance of a good track record, they’re missing their dominating center, and still they roll along and win and win. Why? Because of Nash. They won 11 games in a row, and then Nash had to sit out a game. So what happened? They got blown out. Whether or not he deserved MVP last year was questionable. But this year there should be absolutely no question.
With respect to our Akronite blog host being completely “unbiased,” well…I don’t know. I do not doubt for a moment he honestly believes he is. Maybe on a conscious level he is, but unconsciously, I think human nature sometimes rears its cute little biased head. Sorry, BW, but I sometimes see it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a relentless Reghi-shill type of thing. But you’d have to be an android not to grow up in the area, root for loser after loser after loser after loser after loser after loser after loser after loser after loser after loser ad nauseum, and then get a job covering the same team you rooted for, and then not have some lingering underlying bias no matter how hard you try to suppress it.
April 1st, 2006 at 10:32 am
I do understand the Suns have had a very good season with three new starters. I wouldn’t say those starters are untalented, however. In fact, that owner from Atlanta who got railroaded after nixing the Johnson trade is looking smarter by the minute.
I also think Shawn Marion gets shortchanged when people talk, or write, about the Suns’ success. Additionally, the Suns’ style of play is conducive to winning in the regular season, when teams don’t have time to prepare for their current small lineup.
That’s not to say Nash shouldn’t get MVP consideration. I’m just saying he’s not the clear choice by any means.
If LeBatard argues that race enters into sports coverage in general and issues like MVP voting in particular, I’d have to agree with him. It’s probably rarely conscious and is most evident in antiquated, purist notions about style of play and what makes certain players “class” individuals.
It’s only natural; most sports writers seem like white, suburbia types who, like me, learned about the “right” way to play from either their history-teaching high school coach or The White Shadow’s Ken Reeves.
As for being objective, I’m sure it’s tough for a beat reporter to avoid homerism in that his or her subject (the team) is also his or her primary source of information. I think our blog host and the BJ sports staff do a good job, but there has been a reluctance to criticize some pretty sorry GMs and coaches, at least until after they’d been safely run out of town.
April 1st, 2006 at 1:41 pm
Your last paragraph is an excellent point, particularly the first sentence. Aside from having a natural inclination to root for the home team, there is a strong tendency for the local writers to act as a conduit for dispensing the franchise minions’ PR junk, whether it’s in the form of well-orchestrated statistics designed to prove a PR point, or simply marketing garbage dispensed in the form of a writer’s press release by proxy.
Why is this allowed to happen? Are the local writers afraid they’ll be denied some access to the subjects they’re covering? Or are they shying away from management pounding and some retribution that naturally comes with it? Why are things rarely questioned, why is bunk treated as gospel? I’m speaking of beat writers, I’m speaking of columnists.
Questioning the credibility of the local sports media is entirely warranted. It’s been the same way since the first day I picked up the sports pages, even when the Cleveland Press once “competed” against the Cleveland Plain Dealer. I get the strong sense that Danny Ferry will continue to be well-shielded from any media pressure until a grassroots groundswell inevitably begins a few years from now. So many writers are just ticklishly giddy the team made it into the playoffs. This despite it’s entirely due to one single guy. And no, I’m not speaking of the legendary Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the most ridiculously Northeast Ohio media-inflated Cavalier since Phil Hubbard. (By the way, when 16 out of 30 make it into the playoffs, it is pathetic when a franchise can’t.)
Which brings me to Roger Brown. Nobody else has the courage to really criticize or to write what may be deemed “unpopular.” You can love Roger Brown, you can hate Roger Brown, but you have to admire a sportswriter with real guts. He knows he’ll be a lone target, but he writes it anyway.
April 1st, 2006 at 9:20 pm
I just checked out those two Cavs sites you mentioned. I don’t like that Cavsworld site at all, way too homerish, reads like it’s hosted by Cavaliers employees. Both of my thumbs are way down. The LeBron Meter site, on the other hand, is a cute concept. I rather like it. Thumbs up!
April 2nd, 2006 at 6:03 am
I can’t resist. Anyone who saw yesterday’s game and doesn’t think James and Wade are the NBA’s two most valuable players is out of his/her skull.
April 2nd, 2006 at 8:04 am
James and Wade are very valuable, but considering what the Suns went through, Nash is the most valuable. So there. Take that. I have slapped you with my rubber glove.
April 2nd, 2006 at 4:22 pm
If the Cavs get to 50 wins, LeBron is MVP. End of argument.
April 3rd, 2006 at 9:53 am
There was a work-related instance where I made a television appearance, and the make-up aspect of it is very unsettling to say the least (thankfully mine was at least applied by a girl). I think I spent over a half hour washing my face in the bathroom sink after the ordeal. Anyhow, I think the chance of LBJ winning the 2006 MVP is as good as Alan Tucker winning a Pulitzer (ever). (Sorry Alan, but still getting back at you for ripping me about my use of the LBJ acronym.) The MVP should be closely aligned with the success of the overall team. And the fact is the press (correctly) views the Cavs as a second-tier contender. Does anyone really think the Cavs would win more than 2 games in a 7 games series against the Pistons/Heat/Spurs/Suns? So, logic dictates that the MVP hail from those top-tier teams. It is true that minus LBJ the Cavs are a JCC rec team. But the same argument can be made about Philli minus AI and LA minus KB, and I gaurantee those two will not be on any ballots. Only when and if the Cavs show better consistency, especially against top teams, can the argument become valid.
April 3rd, 2006 at 10:17 am
NewYorkCav makes a good point and maybe that’s how it will go, though the national media has been wanting to anoint LeBron since he entered the league.
But it’s Alan’s reasoning that I find most convincing. In fact, considering what the surprising New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets have gone through this season (3 or 4 new starters, a hurricane, two home courts and the drug suspension of Chris Anderson)PJ Brown has got to be this year’s MVP.
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:21 am
Larry, the Suns had an almost complete overhaul, and nearly every guy on the Suns is having a personal career season. Few people thought the Suns would even have a .500 record. As terrific as James is, other than causing Ilgauskas to travel six times a game instead of seven, nobody on the Cavaliers is having a career season.
I’m a fan of team basketball. The Suns, Pistons, Spurs, whatever. Teams. Guys that make other guys better. James is a great player on a bad team. I’ll concede that point. But they can only award one MVP trophy, and Nash deserves it.
Tell you what. I am nothing if not flexible. If you can convince a Cleveland or an Akron sportswriter, any sportswriter, to throw their hometown blinders in the garbage, to write that Ferry f*cked up in a major, major way, and that because of it James is realistically no better off with this roster than he was with his rookie season roster, then I will concede your argument and award James my own personal MVP. As a bonus, I’ll even give you a ton of Passover matzoh that you can use any way you please. You can use it as siding on your house, use it to jack up your car, beat a bum over the head with it, or whatever. Deal?
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:23 am
LeBron and Wade put on a show on Saturday so intoxicating for a minute I was thinking they should share the MVP.
But after thinking about it, LeBron deserves it. The guy goes out and nearly gets a triple-double every night. If the Cavs did not have LeBron they would be about as good as they were in 20002-2003. I see Dirk is getting a push for MVP. Ask yourself this question: Who would you rather have, Dirk or LeBron? Wade or LeBron? Kobe or LeBron? AI or LeBron? KG or LeBron? Shaq or LeBron?
The answer will become obvious who should be MVP. It shouldn’t be open to discussion.
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
I’ll even go one step frrther…Get a Cleveland or Akron sportswriter to write that James is realistically no better off than he was with his rookie season roster, and I’ll throw in a ton of EGG matzoh. As any Jewish person will tell you, unlike regular matzoh, egg matzoh is matzoh that you can actually eat. A Jew eating regular matzoh is like a beaver eating bark.
April 3rd, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Red, your hypothetical questions have little to do with a debate of who should be this year’s regular season MVP. It’s not about picking guys for the post-season or who is going to be a better player in 2019. If I’m picking a team for a playoff series, then give me Bryant. If James has aged 13 years, then give me O’Neal.
April 3rd, 2006 at 4:05 pm
How can you give the MVP to nash when he’s crapped the bed recently whereas Lebs has raised his game when the team needed it mostS?
Nash’s numbers are not MVP numbers; only their record sans Amare is worthy of any consideration.
Do a little role reversal: If LeBron was on the Suns/Heat/Pistons, does anyone think they wouldn’t be as good or better than that team is now? Please. If LeBron was on the Pistons, they’d be good for 75-78 wins.
Contrastingly, if you put Nash/Wade/Billups on the Cavs, does anyone think they would have as good of a record as they do now? Of course not.
Case closed. If the Cavs get to 50 wins, case closed, locked shut, triple bolted, and key tossed in the ocean.
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:32 pm
“…only their record sans Amare deserves consideration?” What kind of silly statement is that? That’s like saying, “Only their record sans LeBron deserves consideration.” If Eric Snow was the point guard, would the Suns have won even 20 games?
Actually, now that I think about it, I believe think James may be more deserving for the Most Improved Player than Most Valuable Player. Diaw deserves consideration, Howard deserves consideration, Yao deserves consideration. But to the extent of his improvement since last year and the way he’s now able to dominate a game on a regular basis, maybe James is more deserving than all of them.
April 3rd, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Comments on blog post, “On second thought, why not?”: 25
Number of comments that are authored by Alan Tucker: 11
Number of comments that is over Brian’s two-comment-per-post limit: 9
Number of times today I’ve thought, Alan Tucker needs his own blog: 4 (this also equals the number of his comments made today)
The stark realization Alan will never get his own blog, just to spite me: priceless
April 3rd, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Maureen, unless I’m Sybil and have 16 personalities, what good is my own blog going to do me? The comments are reactions to comments about a subject that was raised by the blog host. Point-counterpoint type of thing to different points subsequently raised. Brian doesn’t know it yet, but he and I have a future bagel and lox platter bet, so this MVP subject is extremely important. I sincerely thank you for noting the numbers, though. If you’re interested, I also have 2 nostrils, 2 nipples and 10 toes.
April 4th, 2006 at 2:14 am
I couldn’t understand why LeBron couldn’t take any serious consideration as a leading MVP candidate. In virtually all games I have intently kept track of, Lebron has carried this team in broad and mighty back with very little help from his overrated and underperforming teammates (with the exception of a few of games when Murray won a few games for us but not without LeBron still very much in the picture either handing out a picture perfect assist or drawing too much attention) and with glowing demonstration of overall abilities (making points, drawing rebounds, handing out assists). Talent for talent (with exception of Z with his defensive liablities), the Suns are much better compared to the Cavs but look at where the Cavs are now, bringing a hopeless team to a playoff caliber team with Lebron elevating his game at which stage it matters most. Look at Lebron elevating his game further come playoff time (at that point, we LeBron supporters can get together and laugh at Alan the pessimist)…Imagine Lebron with Suns talent around and see how the Suns would be with the Cavs players…it so obvious Lebron is this season’s MVP and it would be a great injustice to ignore his brilliance this year (Most Improved Player?….jeeez…this is not an award; it will be an insult to undisputably the best player in the planet now at an amazing age of 21)…
April 4th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
To: Alan Tucker
From: Red Smith
Subj: MVP
Tucker you know your NBA stuff. No doubt. But it’s plain to see that LeBron is the most valuable player in the league and the best player in the league. The guy dominates every single game he plays in like no other player in the association. Without him the Cavs are a 20-win team at best. With him they are a four seed in the East. The way he’s playing the last month who is to say he’s not going to go all Bernard King circa the 1984 playoffs and lead the Cavs to the Eastern Conference finals. Remember when Bernie went crazy and almost took out Bird and company single-handed? You’re an NBA afficianado. I’m sure you remember. And don’t start saying “well Bernie had Ewing and…” Bag that stuff right now.
At the level he’s playing right now Bron Bron’s a legitimate threat to get 50 10 and 10 every time he steps on the floor. Who is the last guy you could ever say that about? Wise up and quit trying to prove how smart you are about the NBA. You’re begining to look foolish. By the way. I know how “The Sopranos” is going to end. Tony is going to flip on everyone. He’ll enter witness protection and be known as Kevin Finnerty. You read it here first.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
Steve Nash might win his second straight MVP award. LeBron James the dunkadelic highlight reel for the Cavs will more than likely finish 3rd or 4th. His time is not yet. Kobe will finish also in 3rd or 4th. Look for Dirk to finish in 2nd place.
April 4th, 2006 at 3:28 pm
On April 5, 2006, at precisely 1:02 AM and three seconds, it will be the first hour, the second minute, the third second, the fourth month, the fifth day, the sixth year. In other words, 01-02-03-04-05-06. If this does not irrefutably prove that Nash should be MVP, then nothing does.
April 4th, 2006 at 8:18 pm
Thank you Red Smith, regardless what the outcome would be come MVP awarding - should it be Nash or anybody else. If I had a vote, there will be no second best, it’ll only be LeBron not only because of the crazy numbers he put it this season, but the high level of leadership he demonstrated leading this team to progress from day 1. Nash didn’t quite made an impact right away with his first team the way Lebron did, and this is what makes Lebron so extra special to be passed up and snubbed for this year’s MVP.
April 5th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Today’s featured article on the CNN/SI website discusses the MVP race. While the article briefly mentions LBJ’s contributions, the primary stat chart in the story does not even list him as a candidate, underscoring my belief that the press does not view the Cavs as an elite enough team to justify giving MVP to the best player in the league. I do not know what date the media votes, although I presume it is before postseason commences. It would pretty funny if the Cavs somehow win it all and LBJ finishes a distant fifth in MVP balloting (I am predicting a 4th place finish behind Nash, Nit & Wade). But in that case, Cleveland will be so busily drunk-rioting in the Flats to really care about a damn MVP trohpy. (I know drunk-rioting is not a word but that’s what will happen!)
April 7th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
The last time I heard this loud a silent echo, I was reading Ilgauskas’ assists total in the box score. Do you mean to tell me that absolutely nothing has happened in Windhorst’s life in well over a week? At the very least, tell the people about the Hilton’s room service chicken. Or tell the people about the topless maid that tried to make a move on you. Also known as the “reverse Damon Jones.” Anything. Your blog is actually making the Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira announcements seem interesting. How can I remain the original Windhorst Blog Loyalist when stuff about post-menopausal women is more exciting than the invisible stuff you’re writing here?
April 9th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Alan is this same roger Brown who said Jamal Magloire was better than Z.The same magloire who was seen as one of the biggest busts this year. Brown is so ill informed he belongs back writing his tv radio column. Stop trying to be the master of “truth” and admit you are trying to get your own gig writing in this town. It is easy to take an adversarial position without facts like Roger Brown likes to take.
April 9th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P!
Poor Alan Tucker…professional Cleveland grouch…has the greatest player since MJ dumped in the lap of his home town, and all he can do is gripe that some John Stockton type is better.
And Alan…you’re right that Ferry fucked up…but Lebron is so good that IT JUST DOESN’T MATTER! Hahahaha!
April 16th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
KOBE IS MVP
lebron is nothin but hype, nash can just pass he doesnt score 35 a game and has never had 81 in a game.