LeBron James should win MVP every year
Believe it or not, but LeBron James just turned in the best NBA finals performance in league history. He managed to lead all players, for both teams, during the championship series in the categories of points, assists and rebounds per game. This feat has never been accomplished.
| Season | Age | Tm | Lg | G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-15 | 30 | CLE | NBA | 19 | 798 | 214 | 511 | .419 | 23 | .230 | 191 | 411 | .465 | .441 | 118 | 159 | .742 | 34 | 174 | 208 | 160 | 31 | 21 | 76 | 55 | 569 |
Whether it’s stifling defense, offensive scoring ability or simply elevating the play of his supporting cast, there is no one better than LeBron. Simply put, no basketball player on the face of the earth is more valuable than LeBron James. In fact, there’s no one who even comes close.
It’s not just the fact that LeBron’s statistics are unprecedented; it’s how he impacts the game. He has tremendous court vision, and the ability to find the open man. Likewise, he can drive to the basket virtually on command, and gets opposing players into foul trouble through his overpowering physicality. Single handedly LeBron can get his team’s offense and defense going.
Unfortunately, by the end of this NBA Finals series, lack of playmaking abilities by his supporting cast became too much to overcome – even for “The King.” There was only so far LeBron could take such a depleted roster. With a healthy Kyrie Irving or even both he and Kevin Love, who knows how things might have turned out?
In any regard, it’s incredible to consider what we just witnessed. Against one of the greatest teams in NBA history (Golden State is one of only three NBA teams to ever win 83 total games in a season), the Cleveland Cavaliers made a run at an NBA championship. An undermanned, injury depleted Cleveland team took an early 2-1 series advantage, despite Golden State’s depth, offensive efficiency and excellent play on defense. Shockingly, it even appeared at one point that the Cavs might have the Warriors ‘on the ropes,’ ready for a knockout. Struggling with underwhelming performances from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, it was entirely conceivable the team now crowned champion could have found themselves quickly down 3-0, in a series predicted to go very differently.
Maybe now LeBron James will get the credit he truly deserves. Instead of pointing to all the championships he’s lost, perhaps people will start to appreciate the drastic intensity by which his skill set affects the outcome of a game. Yes, Michael Jordan was a better shooter and won more championships. However, despite this, one would have to look all the way back to the great Wilt Chamberlain for a player with such a singular impact. Only ‘Wilt the Stilt’ can compare to LeBron’s utter overall dominance. After all, Wilt did lead the NBA in scoring, assists and rebounds at one point or another. “But what about Michael?” You may ask. Consider this; LeBron James could take almost any team in the league to an NBA Finals appearance, could MJ have done that?
Disagree with Landin’s take? Let him know in the comments below.
Landin Murphy covers the NBA for MFST, you can follow him on Twitter @Landinfitness
Landin Murphy
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No offense Landin, as you presented your opinion very well, but I have to say that I wholeheartedly disagree.
Michael Jordan was the greatest player to set foot on an NBA basketball court, and still is. He was an incredible scorer, could find them open man, was a tenacious rebounder, won DPOTY once (Mark Eaton, Olajuwon, Ewing, Michael Cooper, and Karl Malone played at the time), something LeBron has never done even though nobody in today’s NBA is nearly as good at defense as some of Jordan’s competition.
Stars don’t win championships, teams do. LeBron never would have won in Miami without Wade, Bosh, Cole, and company. Once Kyrie went down, Cleveland was done for. Even Jordan couldn’t win by himself, needing Pippen, Rodman, and others to assist him on his way to the Finals.
Hey Zach,
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It’s extremely difficult to compare any players coming from different eras, and it’s not like there’s really a right or wrong answer.
It just gets ridiculous sometimes how every puts Michael Jordan on such a pedestal. Sometimes I feel like LeBron James could win as many championships as Bill Russell and still people would say, “Oh but Michael would have won more with the same team.”
Michael Jordan had one of the best supporting casts of ALL-time. This postseason LeBron was playing with close to NOTHING. Without Lebron this team would have struggled to win 20 games in the regular season. It’s incredible they got as far as they did, without so many of their key contributors.
Thanks for the Response!
-Landin