NBA MVP 2012: LeBron James Should Narrowly Beat out Kevin Durant for Award

You may like LeBron James, or you may not. You may think he's a great guy, or you still might be holding "The Decision" against him. You may think he carries the load for the Miami Heat, or you might think they make him look better.

I don't care what you think, because no matter how you see it, LeBron James absolutely deserves to be the NBA MVP this season. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder made a strong case, but ultimately, didn't have the full body of work that LeBron offered.

LeBron offers the full resume, with 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Oh, and he generally plays stifling defense and is capable of playing four positions on the court if needed.

It's hard to ignore his value this season.

Sure, Kevin Durant led the NBA in scoring (28.0 PPG) and contributes on the glass (8.0 RPG). But he isn't the complete player James is—either statistically or given the eye test, not yet at least.

And he doesn't pass the "value to team" test over James that Derrick Rose used to win last year's award.

While LeBron's numbers were more impressive than Rose's stats last season, the argument was made that the Bulls would have simply sunk without him, whereas the Heat could have survived the absence of LeBron with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in town.

That same argument can't be made for Durant this year. He's got studs who can step in and absorb the scoring load in his absence in Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

And the two teams were equally successful in the regular season, finishing second in their respective conferences (the Thunder were one game better with a 47-19 mark).

Nope, anyway you slice it, LeBron James deserves to be the NBA's MVP this season. Congratulations on a job well done, Mr. James.

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