Why Dwight Howard, Not LeBron James or Kevin Durant, Is NBA's Best Player

Dwight "Superman" Howard has been on fire of late, and it does raise the question of who is the best player in the NBA. Some people are in the LeBron James camp, who argue that the failure of the Cleveland Cavaliers shows how good he is. Others side with Kevin Durant. After all, the leading scorer in the league is a match winner.

Still some a jumping on the bandwagon of the new kid on the block, Derrick Rose, whose resurgent Chicago Bulls have put him on the map.

While all these arguments are solid, I think it is really impossible to say that any player other than a big man is the best player in the league. After all, in the last 20 years, there have been only three NBA championships won by teams with no dominant centre or power forward. Of course, this was the second "threepeat" of the Michael Jordan lead Chicago Bulls.

What's more, the individuals with the most NBA championships are Bill Russell and, disregarding all of Russell's entourage, Kareem Abdul-Jabar.

Because NBA success is almost exclusively tasted by teams with elite big men, then we can remove all players who are not centers and power forwards from the discussion of the best (read: most valuable) player in the NBA. When we do that there is no question who is the winner.

Tim Duncan has been solid, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin have been sensations this season and Amar'e Stoudemire has been dynamite on the offensive side of the game, Howard is the only player who combines elite defense with a lethal low post game.

Howard is the best defender in the league at the moment. He is one of the better rebounders and shot blockers in the league. However, he also plays with good control and never gives up easy baskets to him man.

What's more, on offense he is a one-man scoring machine who is too strong and athletic under the basket to consistently cover. He has also improved his free-throw shooting and lengthened his shooting range.

This season he is averaging 14 rebounds per game (second in the league), 22.8 points per game (11th), 2.3 blocks per game (second). He has also recorded 53 double doubles in 63 games and is second in the NBA in efficiency rating with 28.05.

So, Howard has the numbers, he plays at the right position and he is carrying his team on his back toward a playoff berth. Given the historical prerogative that no championship teams have won without a top big man, it is a no-brainer that the best big man in the league, Dwight Howard, is the most valuable player in the NBA.  

Furthermore, this measuring stick that the "MVP" of NBA history must also be a dominant big man. While this does exclude such players as Kobe Bryant and of course, Michael Jordan, it is I think the best way to decide who was the most valuable player ever.

I call it the "Tall Timber Theory," and in the immortal words of How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson...it's a thing.