The MVP Is The Most Meaningless Award In The NBA

Who is the NFL MVP? Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Dwight Howard? That is the question these days as the NBA regular season winds down.

To me, it is going to be the player whose team has the best record in the league, just like last year's Chris Paul-Kobe race.

But there is a bigger concern. What is the meaning of the most prized individual award in the NBA?

If it was just the matter of the most valuable player, then Kobe would have won it in all the years Steve Nash won it. Clearly, Kobe was most valuable to his team.

Is it the best player in the league? If it was, Tim Duncan would have never won the award ahead of Shaq.

Analysts have said that the MVP’s team has to have won at least 50 games, and generally it is the best player on the team with the best record in the league. Last year, the Boston Celtics had the best record in the league, and not a single Celtic was in the running for the award.

My interpretation of the award is the best player on a team that is involved in the most hyped race as the NBA regular season winds down. That’s why I said it will be given to the player whose team has the NBA’s No. 1 seed overall in the playoffs.

This leads me to say that the MVP is the most meaningless award in NBA history.

If James wins the award ahead of Kobe Bryant, then people will say that LeBron won it because he is a better leader and had better stats over the course of the regular season.

That interpretation is completely wrong, because if you examine both Kobe and LeBron’s minutes, LeBron has averaged nearly three more minutes a game than Kobe, meaning that LeBron has more time to do what he wants to do.

Also, Kobe has a supporting cast that allows him to take fewer shots and do less on the court. So one cannot assess that LeBron has more skills than Kobe.

I am not going to break down Wade’s numbers, because the fact that his team cannot mathematically win 50 games this year disqualifies him.

Howard is the one man nobody is talking about. He is an absolute beast, and after watching the Boston and Orlando clash Wednesday night, Howard must be considered a prime candidate. But the media is not talking about him.

When I turn on ESPN and I see the MVP debate, I see the three names of Bryant, James and Wade, but no Howard. The sheer fact that he is not being discussed further proves my point—that the NBA MVP award is completely meaningless.