“Best Player vs. Best Team”: Removing the conflict for this years’ Finals MVP
Before Game One tipped off a little less than two weeks ago, the narrative that was being thrown around to describe these 2015 NBA Finals was that of the best player (LeBron James) vs the best team (Golden State). After game one saw Kyrie Irving knocked out of the series with his season-ending knee injury, that prediction and storyline seemed to be right on the money, with LeBron being cast as the unfortunate superhero who seemed all-but-destined to fall into the lone gunslinger role that he so often shied away from.
After two wins in Games 2 and 3, LeBron had reinforced the best player narrative with monster performances as he had also delivered in game one. The issue was that Golden State had fallen far short of the best team narrative as Cleveland had taken a 2–1 series lead behind LeBron’s huge games and the gritty Matthew Dellavedova who seemed to frustrate Stephen Curry like no other challenger in the playoffs.
Through five games, LeBron James is putting up stupid, stupid, all-time stupid, ridiculous numbers. 36 plus points per game have been supported by 12 plus rebounds, and close to 9 assists. The question that is being asked is how the most valuable player in this series can be anyone other than this guy:
LeBron’s performance has been so surreal that there are people who think that it would be unfathomable for anyone else to win Finals MVP.
That bends my head. Regardless of success in the team competition, there are people who try to make the case that LeBron not only should win the individual award because of his masterful performances, but almost has already done so do to his current performances.
As amazing and incomprehensible King James has been, I cannot possibly think of a scenario where I would be willing to accept any player from a losing squad win Finals MVP. Even though such a thing did happen in 1969 with Jerry West, I suspect that award was a result of predicting a Lakers win in a do-or-die game 7, rather than a flat-out acknowledgement of Jerry’s greatness in a loss.
Naturally, if the Cavs’ win in game 7, we don’t have a debate, however in the alternative, I think that there is only one decision to make: award the Finals MVP to a member of the winning team. There are two main reasons for my position here. First, winning is part of the equation in determining any MVP award, since I believe that no regular season MVP has won less than 45 games, and that was an aberrration of several games below the norm. I think that LeBron’s accomplishment in dragging his squad to this point is admirable, but that brings me to my second point.
When Michael Jordan was the target of every opposing defense in Finals match ups, the reason that we think of him as so great is that no one could stop him, despite injuries to his teammates, or other circumstances. What has happened in this series is that Golden State has done enough to neutralize LeBron in a way that they are in a position to win. They have imposed their defensive intensity upon him not to limit his stats, but to win games.
As we head to the home stretch of these Finals, I think that winning and effort should count for something, and as great as Andre Iguodala has been defending LeBron, it was the Warriors that put in the effort and showed the discipline to not abandon their gameplan when LeBron was going into superhero mode. I think this Finals matchup so far has reminded me of the 2008 Celtics-Lakers Finals. Celtics defense worked as a unit to stop Kobe and the Lakers attack, and ultimately, it was the offensive leader for Boston who won Finals MVP.
Steph Curry has been flat-out sensational this year from beginning to end, and if the Warriors win tonight, or in Game 7, I think that he is the engine that elevates Golden State, and for that reason, and for moments like the end of game 5, he deserves Finals MVP if his Warriors win just like LeBron, who is the leader and engine for Cleveland, deserves it if his team wins.
The ring does matter, and the Finals MVP only exists because of the Finals. Winning makes a difference.
