NBA MVP 2012: Dark-Horse Candidates to Win Coveted Award
Many people have different opinions on qualifications for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
Here are the questions I ask myself when pondering the award candidates: What would their respective team be like if they weren't on the court? Did they produce at a high level? Did his team make the playoffs by a significant margin?
Given my credentials for the coveted award, here are a couple dark-horse candidates to consider.
San Antonio quietly finished with the best record in the Western Conference once again. Point guard Tony Parker has a lot to do with the success of the Spurs this season, and he is deserving of the MVP Award.
Parker scored 18.3 points, dished out 7.7 assists and recorded 2.9 rebounds per game this season. His points total was the most he recorded since 2008-09, and he's having a career year in the assists department.
People don't realize that Parker is only 29 years old. He started more games (60) than anybody on the roster not named DeJuan Blair, and his youth has a great deal to do with that.
Parker adds up in every category of my MVP calculator.
Chances: 15 percent
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Durant even believes that guard Russell Westbrook is the Thunder's most important player. This coming from the three-time scoring champion.
Westbrook has made a ginormous impact on the Thunder team this year, posting 23.6 points, 5.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game.
He's not a true point guard, but he is one of the best slashers in the entire league. If you take him off Oklahoma City, they are drastically worse.
Oklahoma City finished the season 47-19, which was good for second behind San Antonio.
Westbrook is a true dark-horse candidate because of who he plays with.
Chances: 15 percent
Kevin Love
If you take Kevin Love off the Minnesota Timberwolves, how many wins do they end up with? Fifteen? Ten? Love is one of the most important players to any team in the league, and he's a major reason why Minnesota won 26 games this year.
Obviously, the only area holding Love back is his team making the postseason. The other two, however, fully come into play. Minnesota would be a 10- to 15-win team without him.
He produced 26 points, 13 rebounds and two assists per game in 2011-12.
Chances: 5 percent
