NBA MVP 2012: Players Not Named LeBron James Who Deserve Recognition
All we've heard about the NBA MVP is how LeBron James and Kevin Durant are the only two horses in the race. And while that is entirely accurate, it takes away the spotlight from some other players who've been incredibly important to their teams this season.
Here are some NBA stars who should get some recognition for their great seasons.
Kevin Love
The Minnesota Timberwolves have been bad for longer than I can remember and finally, 2012 was a season of hope for the future.
Love is the brightest light on the team at the moment and with the addition of Ricky Rubio, this team was almost a playoff team this year. Sadly for them, Rubio's injury ended his season early as well as their hopes at the postseason.
The T-Wolves power forward averaged 26 points, 13 rebounds and two assists. Love has become a great all-around player and a threat from anywhere on the floor offensively at any given time.
At age 23, Love's future is incredibly bright and his ceiling is only as high as he'll allow it to be. Look for Love to be in the discussion for MVP for a long time to come year after year and eventually, I expect him to win it once the Wolves become truly competitive again.
Rajon Rondo
Rondo's presence on the Boston Celtics has been huge this year. On an aging team, Rondo gives the Celtics some legs and energy whenever he's on the floor. Boston's floor general averaged almost 12 points and 12 assists to go along with almost two steals and five rebounds.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better all-around point guard in the game than Rondo.
At this point in his career, Rondo appears to be a triple-double machine and has proven so with six in the regular season, as well as picking up one in Game 3 against the Atlanta Hawks.
While he won't score much, Rondo is a major catalyst for anything Boston does offensively and they wouldn't be half the team they are without him.
Since Paul has taken his game to Los Angeles to join the Clippers, this team is clearly far superior than their 2011 version.
His numbers weren't career-highs, but they were certainly team-changing and thanks to Paul, the Clips got into the playoffs for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.
Paul's offensive prowess gives the Clippers some stability on offense as well as organization. He's certainly making it easier for Los Angeles to score points than it was in the past.
The combination of Paul and Blake Griffin will not only help contribute to the Clips future success, but it will ensure that Paul is in the conversation for MVP for years to come.
Bryant simply doesn't get enough credit as the heart and soul of the Los Angeles Lakers. Without him, who knows where they'd be.
Bryant led the league in scoring this season with almost 28 points per game to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
The Lakers have seen their bench depleted and offense hard to come by this season but still managed to earn the third seed in the playoffs. It's been turmoil and uncertainty in Los Angeles all season and Kobe has remained the constant.
So much for age catching up to Bryant this season. He is still very much one of the best players in the NBA still.
