The NBA's Early MVP Candidates All Have 1 Thing in Common
Much was made this summer of all the players who didn’t join Team USA in the Spain-set FIBA World Cup. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love…the list of no-shows reads like a premier Rolodex of baller fame.
But thus far in the 2014-15 NBA season, the shortlist for MVP candidates is made up almost exclusively of those who did play for their country. The impression of patriotic summer balling as a springboard into the rare air of superstardom seems as true as ever today.
"Sometimes when guys get that [Team USA] experience," said TNT announcer Brent Barry in a Dec. 11 telecast of the Houston Rockets game against the Sacramento Kings, "they appreciate the roles the other guys play in their team."
That sounds like one of the differences in The Beard’s game this season. Through mid-December, James Harden is a strong candidate for the league’s best player, leading his Rockets to a scorching 18-5 record despite extended absences from elite center Dwight Howard and starting power forward Terrence Jones.
Harden’s performance against the Kings showed a national TV crowd what he’s been up to. He took over at the beginning of overtime, scoring seven straight points to lead Houston to a 113-109 victory. He scored 44 on the night to go along with eight assists and—perhaps most tellingly—three steals and a block.
Harden has become a more conscientious defender this season, and the improvements to his stopping skills look like a clear result of working with Team USA coach Tom Thibodeau in August.
If you’re one of the many haters Harden earned with his sieve-like performance on that end last season, now’s the time to tune in and watch a rejuvenated Harden playing the basketball of his life.
DeMarcus Cousins
Barry’s words are even more appropriate for DeMarcus "Boogie" Cousins, whose absence in the game against Houston was the big caveat to the Rockets' win.
Before Boogie went out for nine games (and counting) with a scary bout of viral meningitis, he was looking like a new man.
Previously maligned for being a bad, pouty teammate, Boogie became the central personality for a Kings renaissance, as the team started the season at a surprising 5-1 clip. He could be seen performing uncommon acts of chemistry like this endearing exchange with teammate Omri Casspi:
Cousins foretold of such growth at Team USA camp. "One of the main things [you learn with Team USA] is how to be a professional," Boogie told Bleacher Report in August. "You got guys like Kyle Korver, who’s not the most elite player in the game, but he’s the perfect example of how you want to be as a teammate and how you want to approach the game every day."
Cousins is perhaps the best big-man scoring talent this side of Shaquille O'neal, so seeing him with an improved, post-FIBA outlook is good news for basketball lovers everywhere.
Steph Curry
Curry is the motor of the Golden State Warriors’ league-leading 20-2 tear. Under new coach Steve Kerr, he’s led Golden State’s offense with 23.2 points per game on 48.5 percent shooting.
But, like Harden, he’s also improved drastically as a defender since playing at FIBA. Previously a bit of a turnstile, Curry has a logged a 1.4 defensive real plus-minus this season, making him fourth among all point guards in that category.
He’s also developed a smarter sense of his gravity. Curry’s always been a great playmaker as well as an elite scorer, but in 2014 he seems to hold defenses more in the palm of his hand than ever.
Between Kerr’s new tutelage and all that he learned at FIBA, one of the game’s greatest talents now also has some of the best knowledge a player can have, and it’s showing in his most MVP-worthy days yet.
Anthony Davis
Anthony Davis is the future of the NBA. Still just 21 years old, he's exploded through the first month of this season after helping guide Team USA through FIBA with ease. The Brow is in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks.
Davis leads all players with his staggering 33.15 player efficiency rate and has arguably been the best player in basketball this year. His numbers, overall, are preposterous: 24.3 points per game to go with 10.2 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.9 steals.
On more than one night in his 2014-15 campaign, Davis has put up stat lines for which we have go back to Hakeem Olajuwon for a comparison.
There’s still more room for Davis to grow as a player—scary as that is. But the talent incubator of FIBA has helped him race toward his ceiling ever quicker.
Marc Gasol
We close our list of FIBA-competitors-gone-MVP-candidates with a non-American. Through the early phases of the Memphis Grizzlies’ terrific season, Marc Gasol has been their most valuable asset and one of the best big men in the league.
The Spaniard’s 19-4 team couldn’t do what it is doing without his combination of defensive craft, passing and a newfound knack for taking over as a scorer. At 19.4 points per game, Gasol is easily surpassing his previous high of 14.6 per game as a scorer.
That evolution could be seen during FIBA, where Gasol was asked to be "the man" whenever his brother Pau wasn’t up to the task. The Grizzlies capitalizing on Marc’s ability to put it in the hole is a simple change and the smartest one they could have made this season.
It all began, like so many of the game’s most important leaps this season, at FIBA.
Advanced statistics courtesy of ESPN.
