During TNT’s telecast of the Bulls vs Mavericks game on Thursday night, Reggie Miller gave his MVP front runners for the first half of the season. His five picks included: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Amar’e Stoudemire and Dirk Nowitzki. All five players are having great seasons, and without them the Knicks, Heat, Bulls and Mavericks would be getting ready for the draft lottery.
However, something struck me when I saw Reggie’s picks last night. None of the players are currently playing on the team with the best record in their respective conference. In the last 20 years, there have only been three MVPs that did not come from the the first place team in the winning players’ conference. Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994, Tim Duncan in 2002 and Steve Nash in 2006. While there are no clear cut guidelines for winning the MVP award, it certainly seems leading your team to a first place record is a good start.
It appears as though this season could be one of those rare years where the MVP comes from a team that is not in first place at the end of the season. Currently, the Spurs and Celtics have the top records in each conference. The Spurs and Celtics each have a core of star players who contribute equally. At this point, it is hard to see the MVP coming from one of these two squads.
The preseason favorite to win the award was Kevin Durant. While Durantula is still doing his thing in Oklahoma City, he really has not been mentioned as much as the season has progressed. When it comes to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, many believe the two players cancel one another out. How could one be more valuable than the other? However, if the Heat end up taking over the top spot in the Eastern Conference, Lebron could easily take home his third straight MVP award. A couple of weeks ago when Lebron sat out with an ankle injury, the Heat looked terribly average with Wade and Bosh manning the ship. Not to mention, have you seen the Cavaliers these days? If the choice came between Wade and James, I would award the MVP to LeBron over D-Wade.
Now, considering the MVP race is as wide open as it is, maybe Kobe Bryant could steal his second MVP award. The Lakers are currently in second place in the Western Conference. At times, they have not played their best basketball this season, but at the end of the day are atill a 32-13 basketball team. If the Lakers can jump start their play a little bit in the second half, I could see Kobe sneaking in and winning his second MVP award.
Finally, let’s talk about a certain rising superstar in Chicago. Derrick Rose has revitalized the Chicago franchise. There has not been this much buzz around the Bulls since MJ was in town. The Bulls are currently in the three spot in the Eastern Conference at 30-14. The Bulls have not has this good a record at this point in the season since 1997. Most importantly, Rose has sometimes had to lead the Bulls to this impressive record by himself. Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer have both missed considerable time due to hand injuries. If the Bulls stay in the top three in the East, Rose could steal the MVP this season.
Right now, I have LeBron, Kobe, and D-Rose as my MVP front runners. With that being said, Amar’e, Durant, and Dirk all have legitimate arguments as well. It will be interesting to see if anyone rises as the favorite as the second half approaches. If the race is still this close come this spring, seeing how the votes shake out will be very interesting.
Joshua Sexton is a lifelong basketball fanatic, who watches as many games as possible. In addition, He has played and coached the game at the high school level. He has recently started writing about the game of basketball.
