The Works: How LeBron James Destroyed the MVP Award

Filed under: Grizzlies, Hawks, Heat, Kings, Nets, Pacers, NBA Awards, Thunder, The Works

Today in The Works: Making sense of the NBA's Christmas ratings; assessing some major player disappointments. Then, Eric and Shoals debate the Thunder's supposed stat-padding.

But first, how LeBron James completely and totally exposed the MVP award for the heaping lie it is.

Be A Selfish Jerk, You Jerk!

Over the weekend, LeBron James stated (quite reasonably, I thought) that neither he nor Dwyane Wade had a shot at the MVP this season. This is pretty much consistent with the critique of the Heat: by coming together to form a three-headed monster of superstar-dom, James, Wade and Chris Bosh forfeited their dignity, or at least their individuality. The MVP, while not quite an award about individuals -- it's individuals winning, or making their teammates better -- at least requires they be held up as a single man on a single trophy.

The Heat benefit from the unfair advantage of All-World teammates. In theory, this means there is always less pressure on them than on other candidates for the award, and that in the end, they just don't have to try as hard, or stand as tall. There is no room for ego or the individual will, since on this team, those dark forces would quickly scuttle the entire experiment. As James surmised, the team is MVP-proof -- this despite the fact that, in the preseason, he topped many writers' lists of predictions. A team premised on balance and sharing is not conducive to handing out MVPs, even as the award is not supposed to be about one man's accomplishments.

It brings us back to the perennial question: what exactly is the MVP? And, if the Heat are cowards, are we to understand the individualism of the MVP as somehow more honorable?

Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2011/01/03/the-works-how-lebron-james-destroyed-the-mvp-award/

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