LeBron James: Why He Will Be Undeservedly Snubbed from the 2011 MVP

When high levels of emotion are involved in any situation, perspective is lost. People often make the worst decisions when they are emotional about something.

This past summer, former Cleveland Cavalier LeBron James was vilified by the whole country with his The Decision show on ESPN. It came off as arrogant and for some reason people had a problem with him bolting to Miami despite being a free agent, meaning he has the choice to go where he wants.

Despite that, since then LeBron has helped the new-look Heat to a Southeast division title and a 56-24 record after 80 games. He's had an MVP-type season statistically, yet all the attention from media outlets such as ESPN and Bleacher Report are going to a point guard in Chicago by the name of Derrick Rose.

Several days on Bleacher Report, an article by Daniel S. Corpuz highlighted the reasons why Derrick Rose deserves the 2011 NBA MVP award. He points out his highlight reel skills, the Bulls record, and the fact that he has improved every year in his three years in the league as reasons why he deserves the MVP. ESPN's SportsCenter nightly shows Rose's dazzling skills in their Top 10 segment that wows the audience.

But that's just not good enough.

Derrick Rose is an elite player. He is unbelievable and has great talent that has helped and will help the Bulls to win many games. There is no question that he has emerged as one of the most talented players in the league. There's no question he's a top-10 player in the league. But that does not mean he deserves this year's MVP award.

First off, let's look at a quick statistical breakdown between the two players. It's true stats are not everything, but they provide very good information.

Points per game:
LeBron James: 26.6
Derrick Rose: 25.0

This stat is stunning. The general public anoint Rose as the MVP over LeBron James when James is outscoring him. James' PPG has declined this year but that's because he actually has teammates to pass the ball to. Derrick Rose does not have that many talented teammates and is the primary source of offense for Chicago, yet his 25 PPG is nowhere near LeBron's 29.7 PPG last year when he was the only source of offense for Cleveland.

Rebounds per game:
LeBron James: 7.5
Derrick Rose: 4.1

Rose rebounds the ball a lot for his position. But it is clear 7.5 RPGs per game is a lot more valuable than 4.1. Rose's position is the point guard position, so one would expect him to dominate his category to compensate for the rebounds he doesn't get, right?

Wrong.

Assists per game:
LeBron James: 7.0
Derrick Rose: 7.9

Derrick Rose only averages less than 1 assist per game despite being a point guard. LeBron averages 7 and he's not a point guard. Is this because he has Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to distribute the ball to? Not exactly. Last year on a Cleveland team with a fraction of the talent than this year's Miami team, LeBron averaged 8.3 assists. So the " LeBron has more talent on his team, that's why he has a lot of assists" excuse doesn't apply here. Sorry.

Field Goal Percentage:
LeBron James: 51%
Derrick Rose: 44.1%

The dude makes over half of his shots and he's a forward. Is there any more explanation needed here? Isn't Lebron's shooting valuable? It's a lot more valuable than a cross-over highlight reel ankle breaker that results into a dunk. If that were what measured MVPs then the honors should go to Shannon Brown.

The two are also even in blocks and pretty much even in turnovers. LeBron has more steals and Rose has a better free throw percentage.

Statistically, LeBron wins the debate.

But stats don't tell the whole story. The LeBron naysayers remark that record-wise, Chicago is a full four games better than Miami, thus Rose deserves the MVP. Let's not forget though that the Heat had an invented team coming into the season. They had no team chemistry and started off 9-8. LeBron had to deal with those headaches and try to overcome these struggles, which by the were under national media attention.

Another argument from the Rose side is that without him, Chicago would have a bigger drop-off than Miami would without James. This may be true, but what was Miami last year without James? In a weak East they would finish in the fourth or fift seed and would be a first-round exit. With James they are a title contender. Similarly, with Rose the Bulls are title contenders but they would still be in the playoffs without Rose in lower spot. Rose's departure from the Bulls would not have the same effect that Lebron's did for the Cavaliers. You want to talk about value? Go look at the Cavs right now. You don't think they miss LeBron?

Finally, the most compelling case on why LeBron deserves the MVP is just the overall pressure he's under every night for the last eight years. As Colin Cowherd put it, when LeBron loses a game it's a national story. When Derrick Rose loses a game, nobody cares. He goes on to say that the greatest example for this is Miami's recent loss to Cleveland. Despite having a triple double, the Cleveland newspapers have had headlines like " LeBron Loses." He lost, not Miami.

Derrick Rose doesn't have to face that. Some might say that this is all "Decision" induced. But is it really? LeBron has had the national spotlight on him since he was in high school. They didn't show Derrick Rose's high school games. They showed LeBron's. Would Rose be the same player if he had to carry LeBron's weight? LeBron's mother got arrested recently and he had to face the media for that.

A war broke out in Libya and believe it or not, he had to face questions for that. Derrick Rose does not get half of the pressure LeBron does. Some of that is "Decision" induced but don't kid yourself, most of us would crack and lock ourselves in a closet and cry if we faced what LeBron faces daily. And despite all of this, he still performs.

Unfortunately though, despite all of this the MVP award will go to Derrick Rose. The hype machine is stronger than ever for Rose. His unbelievable moves and talent have awed the nation. Writers vote for the MVP and nobody is in love with James right now because of what happened last summer.

Similarly in the mid 2000s when Kobe was putting up 35 point games nightly and single-handedly leading the Lakers to postseason appearances, the MVP awards were going to Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki. At the time, Kobe was a villain because of the Shaq drama and sexual assault allegations that lingered in his past. So the votes would go for the clean cut Nash and Nowitzki.

This just shows what the MVP really means: Absolutely nothing, especially when a transcendent star like Kobe only has one and when another icon like LeBron is having a sensational season yet he most likely won't win it.

But maybe LeBron doesn't want the MVP. After all, he didn't win what was most important when he was winning MVP.

Maybe he's saying, "Go ahead Derrick. Take the MVP. Congratulations. I'll be playing in June."