Minnesota Timberwolves: Why Kevin Deserves More MVP Love
Whether it is the small market that he plays in, or the fact that his team’s success falls in comparison to that of stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant, Kevin Love has failed to receive the recognition for this year’s Most Valuable Player that he deserves.
Love is averaging career high 24.5 points a game, while pulling down nearly 14 boards a game.
After repeatedly refining his game over the past two seasons, it seems that his offensive repertoire has become nearly flawless.
On top of Love’s individual success, the Timberwolves have shown glimpses of growth. Love’s team has already eclipsed its win total from each of the previous two seasons and is in the hunt for its first postseason appearance in over seven years.
Now, while Love’s performances have been about as glamorous and heralded as one’s can be coming out of Minny, there is no way to rationally knock the success and productivity of the current MVP frontrunner, Mr. LeBron James. That is, unless you are on the side of the fence that buys into his “repeated inability” to perform in crunch time. The man’s statistics, efficiency and team record are too impressive and impeccable to argue against.
I would, however, put Love ahead of the rest of the field.
He is the only player, aside from Tony Parker, who is getting the job done, albeit on a more moderate scale than all the other MVP candidates, without the assistance of another superstar. While Durant has Westbrook, Kobe has the Twin Towers and Chris Paul has Blake Griffin, Love lacks another reliable and productive star.
But, then again, it doesn’t seem as if Love even needs a Robin.
Love is posting numbers good enough for an entire starting frontcourt.
He is currently the only player in the top five of both points and rebounds (four and two, respectively). Add his efficiency from the free-throw stripe, and his newly acquired 3-Point Contest hardware, and you have the makings of arguably the hardest defensive matchup in the game of basketball today behind LeBron James.
For those of you arguing that Love has no doubt been aided by the presence of Rubio, at first glance, you may be right. When taking into account the fact that Love posted similar numbers a year before without the Spanish phenom though, you’d realize that the UCLA-alum actually has a better argument for the development and success of Rubio, as well as center Nikola Pekovic and rookie Derrick Williams.
To sum it up, Love meets all the criteria for MVP.
He is in a class of his own as far as his ability to score in a multitude of fashions goes, not to mention his knack for rebounding the ball.
He has made his teammates better, while simultaneously drastically improving the Wolves’ overall record.
And lastly, he has officially established himself as the emotional leader and captain of this squad, and seems ready to take on as much responsibility or pressure as is necessary to propel his team into the upper echelon of the NBA.
All that this man needs is a little more love from the press.
