Most Valuable Player: 2011-2012 NBA Season

The end of the season is upon us. The playoffs start this weekend and all the biggest stars are sitting on their respective benches, watching the rookies and bench players finish out the season. In my last post, I gave you my opinion of the coach of the year. This time, I will present to you my opinion of the top 5 most valuable players:

1. LeBron James
Even I am doubting this decision. But maybe I shouldn't? I'm not a big fan of LeBitch but I do think that he is the most valuable player in the league. He has continued to dominate throughout the entire season, hardly missing any games due to injury. LeBron's value can be measured based on his team. Without LeBron, Miami really wouldn't be all that good of a team. James is who makes that team good. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh do not make the Miami Heat title contenders, LeBron James does. However, I still don't think the Heat have what it takes to win it all. Better luck next time. Hand LeBron his third MVP award and let's get on our merry way.

2. Kobe Bryant
Kobe scares me more than any player in the league, even if he is getting old. In crunch time, no player is more clutch than Kobe. He can have a horrible game, but still manage to hit the game winner as if it were any other layup. Although he has been injured for small parts of the season, he has fought through the pain and shown that he can play. He may seem like a ball hog sometimes, but he does make his teammates much better because the opposing team is so concentrated on what Kobe is doing. This has resulted in Andrew Bynum becoming one of the best big men (and almost in my top 5 MVP vote) in the league.

3. Kevin Durant
The "Durantula" is flowering like the most elegant rose the world has yet to see. He will get the MVP next season, mark my word. He hasn't been injured hardly at all, is incredibly consistent, and one of the nicest guys in the league. He never causes any trouble and is never on the negative side of media coverage. Did I mention he is leading the league in points per game (28ppg)? Captain Durant has turned OKC in to a team that no one wants to play against.

4. Rajon Rondo
What would a list of mine be without something Celtics-oriented? Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the league (sorry, Tony and Chris). He is leading the league in assists this season and has shown that the Celtics are HIS team. He is a very traditional point guard, which is what makes him the best. He knows how to make everyone around him better with his savvy passes and incredible court vision. He is arguably the fastest player in the league, his ability to read the defense is outstanding, and despite what some may think, he can score WHENEVER he wants to. He may not show it, but Rondo has one of the best offensive skill sets in the league. He can post up, shoot the mid-range jumper (far more consistently than he used to), and also blow by defenders going towards the hoop. He also average more rebounds per game than any other point guard. He is a triple-double waiting to happen. In fact, he is leading the league in triple-doubles this season with 5.

5. Tony Parker
Tony Parker is one of my favorite players. He is the opposite of flashy, but the epitome of success. He can do it all. He has led the Spurs to two straight seasons atop the western conference. He can score, defend, pass, and win. The Spurs are by no means young, yet Parker has been the catalyst that has brought the Spurs to where they are today.

Power Rankings 2.0

We are in the final stretch of this shortened NBA season with most teams set to play only 13-15 more games. The playoff race is starting to heat up with many teams playing inspired basketball and others showing that they really don't deserve to play basketball in May. I gave my power rankings earlier in the season and I wanted to see if my opinions have changed at all. There are certainly some differences:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

Russell Westbrook

The Thunder have been my favorites to win it all throughout the entire season. They have played incredible. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have proven that youth and maturity is very possible. They have both been consistent and leaders for the team. Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison have showed that they are one of the best front lines in the league. I see them representing the western conference in the Finals this year.


2. Chicago Bulls

Joakim Noah

The only way I consider this team the second best team in the league is if they have the injury-riddled Derrick Rose in the lineup. He's the MVP! His presence is pretty important! To add to that, he's the PG, which is arguably the most important position on the floor. Without Derrick Rose, the Bulls have proven to me that they will not make it out of the eastern conference in the playoffs this year. They're still very good without him, but not good enough to make it past the likes of Miami or Boston. Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, and Carlos Boozer really need to step up to give this team what it needs.



3. Boston Celtics

Kevin Garnett

Again, call me biased but this is one hell of a basketball team. They have been on a tear, having won their last five games and only five losses since the all-star break (second best in the league). Rajon Rondo is playing at another level at PG. He has dished out ten or more assists in his last thirteen games and just yesterday dominated the Miami Heat with his fifth triple-double of the season (leading the NBA). Paul Pierce earned player of the week in the eastern conference this week after a 36 point performance against Charlotte. Since Kevin Garnett has been permanently moved to the center position, he has played better than he has in years. He is rebounding, shooting, and defending the rim very well. Ray Allen has missed six straight games with a sore ankle, which has given second year guard Avery Bradley the chance to prove that he is one of the best defender the league has seen in years. Greg Stiemsma has also been incredible for a rookie. He blocks nearly two shots per game and has been very reliable on the offensive and defensive ends. This team has had a rough year. Jermaine O'Neal, Chris Wilcox, and Jeff Green all had to have surgeries that ended their seasons and the entire team has been filled with injuries. That is, except for one "old" guy that no one ever seems to give credit to anymore. Yeah, Kevin Garnett. He has missed one game all season. I think he is OK. I think the Celtics would give Miami or Chicago a very interesting and competitive seven game series come playoff time.


4. San Antonio Spurs

Tony Parker

This is a team that gets hardly any media attention. They are "boring" to watch, but still somehow win boatloads of games despite their veteran status. Their offense has been incredible all season and has given opposing defenses a very hard time. With Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker leading the way, the younger Spurs such as Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter, Kawhi Leonard, and DeJuan Blair have had the chance to learn from some of the best players in the league. A western conference finals matchup between San Antonio and OKC sure would be fun to watch.


5. Los Angeles Lakers

Pau Gasol

I very nearly put Miami here, but I didn't because I feel that the Lakers' big men separate them from Miami. Miami lacks big men and are not very good at rebounding. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are an amazing dynamic duo. They compliment each other very well and work well under the hoop. They also have the one guy, Kobe Bryant. He's pretty good. Another big separator from Miami is the aquisition of Ramon Sessions. He has played very well since coming to LA and has filled the PG spot much better than Derek Fisher did. Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Ron Artest, Troy Murphy, and Josh McRoberts have also given significant time to the success of the Lakers.


6. Miami Heat

LeBron James

I was only going to do my top five power rankings, but I have to throw Miami in here, too. They are a very good team at home having won their last 15 straight. On the road, they seem to struggle. Wade, LeBron, and Bosh have played great all season, but they need more than that. They need a good point guard and they just can't acquire one with all the money they pay their "Big 3". They have great depth on the wings, but they really need a good point guard and better frontline to go with Chris Bosh. Joel Anthony and Udonis Haslem aren't going to get it done. Having said that, I can see Miami quite possibly being in the Finals this year. They're strangely inconsistent, but when they play good, they play great.

Let The Trade Rumors Begin!

It's that time of the season, NBA fans. The time of the year when the trade deadline is just a couple of weeks away and all of the analysts are being completely irrational as they bring up just about every player's possible trade status. Pau Gasol is too weak, Rajon Rondo is too stubborn, Dwight Howard is just being Dwight Howard, and so on. Television analysts from all sports networks continue to babble on and on about nothing. They're bored and figure that they mind as well just talk about players leaving their teams. Sure, there will obviously be some last minute trades (like there are every year), but this year has been particularly annoying. Once that trade deadline passes, general managers and coaches are stuck with the team they have (unless they sign a free agent). It's TV analysts like these that sometimes push GM's into making hasty decisions, in my opinion.

Tim Duncan

What ever happened to players staying with the same team for the entirety of their career? This is basically a lost art at this point in the NBA's development. Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki are the only four players in the league that have played for more than 10 years with one team. This is pathetic. There used to be a time when it was shocking to see a trade happen. Nearly all players stayed with their respective teams and didn't strive to team up with 1 or 2 other superstars to increase the chance of winning a championship. They worked TOGETHER to make their team better. Sure, Bird and Magic could have potentially played together and won more championships, but instead, they wanted to beat each other to a pulp and represent their cities. The NBA has taken a change for the worse in these regards. The Boston Celtics, for example, only have 4 players remaining from their 2008 championship team and it may be down to 3 soon! Rather than working to develop young players, coaches are just ditching them and looking for better talent. These young players need to be trained and have enough potential to be great. The age of social media and fast-paced advertising is giving the news industries the upper hand on the people who REALLY decide who comes and goes.

Oh, The Lin-Sanity!

If Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin wanted to disappear right now, hop on the next flight to anywhere and never be heard from again, his sports legacy would still cast a mammoth shadow. Seriously, it can't get much better than this.


Lin is off to the best scoring start (109 points) to a career of any player since the 1976 NBA/ABA merger. Allen Iverson has the old mark of 101. He's fueled five straight wins for the Knicks, the last four as a member of the starting lineup. He's put together five straight performances that not only woke up the fan base, but five straight hair-raising showcases that rattled the basketball world to its foundation, if only because it proved that in this day and age of advanced statistics, where scouts have scorched the earth looking for the next big thing, Lin has turned out to be a genuine find. 

Jeremy Lin

The fact that he was mere hours away from being released by the Knicks (seriously, the coaching staff actually discussed it) before fate intervened and pushed him into the starting lineup, makes the story more Hollywood than Broadway.
How long the magic ride lasts is anyone's guess. Many presumed it would come crashing to an end Friday night with the Los Angeles Lakers in town and Kobe Bryant ready to stomp through the Lin parade. A career-high 38 points and seven assists later, it was clear that Lin is here to stay a little longer. Saturday it continued. Even on a brutal shooting night (1-12 after halftime), he found a way to outshine Timberwolves rookie phenom Ricky Rubio, sinking the game-clinching free throw with 4.6 seconds left.


Now, I realize the haters out there are going to pounce about his 4.6 turnovers per game and terrible 3 point shooting percentage (17%), but if you can't understand Lin's journey as the first Asian American player to ever play in the NBA and as a graduate from Harvard, you're not paying attention as to why his current tear is resonating so much.

Why Do Fans Get To Pick The NBA All-Star Starters?

The starters for the 2012 NBA All Star Game were announced tonight for both the East and West teams and I wasn't all that surprised by the results. Voted by fans across the world, the starting line ups typically consist of the "superstars" of the league that one generally thinks of when the NBA comes in to mind. For the West squad, PG Chris Paul, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Kevin Durant, PF Blake Griffin, and C Andrew Bynum will be one of the youngest starting lineups that I have have seen in an all star game. For the East squad, PG Derrick Rose, SG Dwyane Wade, SF Carmelo Anthony, PF LeBron James, and C Dwight Howard (the leading vote getting amongst all players) will use their athleticism and experience to give the West team a great challenge. In my opinion, the East is going to absolutely demolish the West. But this is besides the point.
My real concern is why fans even get to vote for the starters in the first place. Yes, I understand the All Star Game is supposed to be a relaxed, fun game that gives fans the opportunity to cheer for all of their favorite players and also a way for players to show their appreciation to players, but it really doesn't make sense to me for one main reason: The general managers of the league get to pick the reserve players, but have no say in the starters. In my opinion, it should be the other way around. Fans should get to pick the reserves and general managers should pick the starters. In too many cases, I have seen players get selected as all stars when they really do not deserve it. For example, washed up players like Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson started for their respective conferences based solely off of their reputations and not by their skill later in their careers. This year is no different to me.