10 Players Who Will Vie for the NBA MVP in 2013

The strange thing about all of hoopla that surrounds the NBA MVP award every year is that it never changes all that much.  

In the past five seasons, only nine players have finished in the top five of the MVP balloting.  Of those nine players, three of them finished in the top five just once*.

In other words, the past five years have consisted of only six guys, LeBron James (5 top-five finishes), Kobe Bryant (5), Dwight Howard (4), Chris Paul (3), Kevin Durant (3) and Dwyane Wade (2), vying for the MVP.   

The only thing that has changed is where they finish.

But with Wade playing second banana to LeBron in Miami, Kobe past his prime and Howard holding the entire city of Orlando hostage, might the 2012-13 season be where someone can break the mold?

Follow along to find out the 10 favorites for 2012-13 NBA MVP...

(Also, follow along to see if you can catch a fun little pattern in all of the slides.)

*The one-timers: Kevin Garnett (2007-08), Derrick Rose (2010-11), Tony Parker (2011-12)

10. Kyrie Irving

It's probably a little early to put the Cavs guard on this list, but it's time to recognize Irving's sensational 2011-12 campaign among the all-time rookie seasons.  

Not only did he exceed all expectations with his paper stat-line, but he also emerged as a crunch-time killer.

According to 82games.com, clutch is defined as "a game in the 4th quarter or overtime, with less than five minutes left, and neither team ahead by more than five points." If you're comfortable with that definition of "clutch", you also have to be comfortable with Irving being the most clutch player in the NBA in 2011-12 by a large margin.

In clutch situations, Irving scored 53.8 points per 48 minutes, 7.7 points ahead of second place Carmelo Anthony.  You can't even pick the stat apart by saying "well, he's all they have" because Irving shot 54.4 percent from the field.

If Irving takes the customary "leap" between years one and two at the NBA level, look for his Cavs to make a Timberwolves-like leap next season as well.  

9. Rajon Rondo

With the futures of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett up in the air, next season might be the first "official" year of the Rajon Rondo era in Boston.  

I use the quotes because anyone who watches the Celtics on a regular basis knows the team goes as Rondo does, so much so that the media has even coined the phrase "Rondo Game" for when the point guard turns in one of his patented 15-15-15 stat-lines.  

For reference, his performance Wednesday night was a Rondo Game on steroids.  

If the this playoffs is indeed the final vestige of the original Big Three, it'll be interesting to see whether Rondo can shoulder the weight of having to turn in Rondo Games on a regular basis.

8. Carmelo Anthony

Here's Carmelo Anthony's stat-line in the final 16 games of the 2011-12 regular season, also known as the post-D'Antoni/Lin Era:  29.1 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.4 APG, 1.3 SPG, 49.1 FG%, 35.7 Usage Rate.

With D'Antoni out and Lin's agent saying he's "not anticipating" a return, it stands to reason that barring a major roster move, the Knicks you saw during the final 16 regular season games will be the team you see next season.

Anthony excels in a down-tempo offense where he's the primary ball-handler (or "ball stopper," if you prefer that term) and coach Mike Woodson seems willing to cater his offense to his star's wishes.

Considering the Knicks record was 11-5 in that span, that's probably a good thing for both the Knicks and Anthony's MVP hopes.  

7. Dwight Howard

Where Howard plays next season matters almost as much to his MVP chances as how he plays.

If Howard goes to Brooklyn and saves a sinking franchise, he may win the MVP.  But if Magic management stupidly decides to renew the Dwight Howard saga for season two, he may not be on anyone's MVP ballot.

So I feel uncomfortable writing a paragraph about Howard without knowing where he's going to play.  Once we know his location, we'll be able to determine his place among the NBA's top tier.

6. Chris Paul

CP3 finished third in the MVP balloting this season more for his affect on Clipper culture than for his on-court play.  

Don't get me wrong—Paul's play was exceptional this season, but it was your basic 20-9 CP3 season. More than anything, it served as a reminder how non-basic Chris Paul is after playing his last two seasons in New Orleans purgatory.

And barring a leap from Blake Griffin that puts the Clippers among the West's elite or coaching change (too late), the team's flaws will be more apparent as the Lob City mystique will wear off a little.  

5. Kobe Bryant

My body is not ready to take Kobe out of the MVP conversation.  I'm not ready to give up the patented March point barrage followed by the "Pardon the Interruption" guys playing Oddsmakers with Kobe's MVP chances.  

I don't care that he's essentially Allen Iverson with a better reputation at this point.  Or that Andrew Bynum might actually be the Lakers best fourth quarter option.  Or that he'll be almost 35 years-old and nearing 1500 career games by the end of next season. 

Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant until proven otherwise.

4. Kevin Love

The nice thing about going through historical MVP ballots is you can instantly recognize which player made 'The Leap' each year.  

In 2010, it was Kevin Durant who lit up the league for 30.2 points per game on his way to the first of his three straight scoring titles.  

In 2011, it was Derrick Rose who went from not not being on any voter's MVP ballot in 2010 to the league's MVP and poster boy of all things non-LeBron.

And this season it was Love, whose gaudy March numbers (30.7 PPG, 13.9 RPG) put him at the forefront of the MVP discussion before Love and the Timberwolves tailed off at the end of the year. 

The Timberwolves are one or two veteran pieces from being a playoff lock and should have a little less than $10 million in cap space headed into the off-season.  That's good enough for two-mid level guys or a Nic Batum-sized splash.

Either way, I don't see next May rolling around without a T-Wolves playoff berth and the main reason for that will be their lovable (sorry) big man.

3. Tony Parker

Parker's brilliant 2011-12 campaign might have been a career year as his team makes one final push toward an NBA championship. 

Or it may have been the beginning of a Steve Nash-esque career renaissance.  

For all of the talk of the "old" Spurs, general manager R.C. Buford has done a wonderful job of compiling young talent to usher in the new era.  Even with the 36-year-old Duncan and 34-year-old Ginobili on the roster, the Spurs average age (27.29) is the youngest of the Duncan Era.

Instead of celebrating the one "final" run for the Spurs, could we instead be at the beginning of a Renaissance Dynasty with Parker leading the charge?  

Anyone who has seen San Antonio play this season certainly can't rule out that possibility. 

2. Kevin Durant

Listen, we all know that LeBron James will be the best regular season player for the foreseeable future.  He's one of the ten best regular season players in NBA history. You can't compete with that.

But if history tells us anything, it's that Kevin Durant is going to get at least one MVP.  It doesn't matter whether he's ever actually the best player in any given season, just that he has a good enough season with one signature win over his closest non-LeBron competition. 

That formula is how Charles Barkley and Karl Malone won the MVP in 1993 and 1997 respectively.  And how we got two-time MVP award winner Steve Nash.

People get bored of voting for the same player every season and look to reward a different (slightly less) deserving player.  

Durant will get one of those trophies. The question remains whether LeBron will eviscerate Durant in the Finals like Jordan did to Barkley and Malone.  

1. LeBron James

LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet, and anyone with a different opinion is wrong.

I'm not going to go so far as to call them "haters" because that word is overwrought in this culture.  People can have different opinions without actively hating another human being.  In this case, it would just be an incorrect opinion.  

No player in the league is more efficient, adds more value or is responsible for more wins than James.  And it's not even close.  LeBron has led the league in PER, VORP and EWA every season since 2007-2008.  

And he's a cyborg, so there's no reason to expect any change.  The only question is whether we'll be tired of voting for him.

(For those who followed along, hopefully you noticed the funny face montage in the pictures.  If not, well...go back through again!)