Win or lose, LBJ should be Finals MVP

quote:

---

James' average line in these NBA Finals is 36.6 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game. Only Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and James Worthy have managed to do that in a single NBA Finals game since 1986. James is doing it every game. James is the only person to have 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in that time frame ... and he's done it three times in this series.

---

quote:

---

His 40-point triple-double in Game 5 was the first in decades. James had 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists by halftime, something nobody has done in any game -- finals, postseason or regular season -- since James entered the league.

---

quote:

---

James is the Cavaliers' offense. He scored or assisted 16 of their 17 first half baskets, including every one in the second quarter. He ended up scoring or assisting 26 of their 32 field goals.

He's doing this out of necessity. When James is on the court, the Cavaliers score 97.2 points per 100 possessions. When he is off the court, they score 54.6 points per 100 possessions. THAT IS VERY BAD.

---

quote:

---

R. Smith loves trying, but he is woefully inefficient in doing so. Tristan Thompson can score on offensive rebounds, but isn't a great post-up player. Timofey Mozgov works best in the pick-and-roll, which needs James to act as ball-handler. There was one possession in Game 5 where Matthew Dellavedova tried going one-on-one with his defender. It looked like an escaped zoo animal trying to break out of a lasso after being hit with a tranquilizer dart.

---

quote:

---

Whether the move away from rewarding losing players is a conscious effort on the part of leagues, a change in the voting procedures or thought processes for participating media or merely a coincidence is unclear. But it is clear that nobody is particularly interested in making an incredibly awkward moment happen.

Picture the scenario of the Warriors winning and James winning the MVP. The confetti-covered Warriors are celebrating their team's first championship in 40 years. It's the photo opportunity of a lifetime, a moment Warriors fans will cherish for decades to come.

And now Adam Silver has to speak into a microphone and tell everybody that none of them was good enough to win MVP. They have to stand aside as somebody goes searching for LeBron. Is he in the locker room? Does he come out, despite being devastated by defeat, to receive the trophy on stage? Does somebody go quietly bring it to him backstage? Does he even want the dang thing? Everybody involved hates it. The LeBron-hating contingent would go apoplectic, convinced once and for all that people will go to great lengths to praise James in spite of his consistent failures.

For these reasons, James will almost certainly need to will the Cavaliers to a win in Game 7 in order to be the NBA Finals MVP. If he doesn't, somebody on the Warriors -- probably Curry, perhaps Iguodala or somebody else depending on what happens in the future -- will get the award.

But let's not forget what James is doing against incredible odds.

---