2011 NBA Awards: Dwight Howard Is the True MVP of the Season

The MVP race has been tight all year. Chris Paul started the season as a contender, then it was Amare Stoudemire, and then Lebron joined the party, but everyone seems to agree—Derrick Rose is the unanimous MVP.

Rose has a great case for MVP. He kept the Bulls near the top of the Eastern Conference, even with injuries to key players like Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. He has outrageous numbers, too. He is the best player on the best team (sorry, San Antonio). So why isn't he the MVP?

Because Dwight Howard is the true MVP.

I agree that Rose is going to win the MVP, because he is the "new guy." The new guy always wins, because the media always falls in love with the underdog or the guy who came out of nowhere. Although he didn't win it, Chris Paul belongs to that group. So does Steve Nash and even Dirk Nowitzski.

However, Howard is the most deserving canidate of the MVP. He is keeping a horrendous Magic team at the top of the East. If you take him away from the team they have above good players, Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson. Other than that, the Magic simply have a bunch of role players.

Without Howard's presence in the lineup, the previously named players wouldn't be as good as they are. Howard is in a nice situation with Orlando the paint is open for him because the Magic surrond him with shooters. But that works both ways; the reason they are so open is because teams have to double Howard in the paint. No player means more to his offense than Howard.

Howard is also in place to win his third straight Defensive Player of the Year award. He is the superior defensive player over Rose. Rose may seem like a good defensive player, but he is backed by one of the strongest interior defenses in the league. He can let his man go by him, knowing that Noah or Boozer is there is back him up.

Let's do a rundown of everything that matters for an MVP.

Team Success: Magic 50 wins, Bulls 60 wins.  Edge: Bulls/ Rose

Stats: Rose 25-4-8, Howard 23-14-1. Edge: Howard

Add up Rose's stats and you get 37. Add up Howard's and you get 38. Simple.

Defensively, Howard is the much better defender than Rose. He averages more blocks and steals than Rose. Rose is a decent defender, but I find him overrated in that department.

Now using Bill Simmons' method of MVP.

Question 1: If you replace the canidate with a decent player at his position, what would be the effect on the team's records? If you replace Rose with a decent point guard such as Jameer Nelson, the team would still be a playoff team, but thats not much in the East. I say they win 50 games. Replace Howard with Joakim Noah, and the Magic win 31 games and are heading to the NBA lottery—not the fourth seed in the East.

Question 2: In a giant pickup game with every NBA player available and two knowledgable fans forced to pick teams with their lives depending on the outcome who would be the first pick based on the season? Honestly I think Lebron would be the first pick, but that doesn't really matter. This is a tough question. I think Howard would be picked first, because he is the only All-NBA like center, while you can get a point guard later on like Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul.

Question 3: 10 years from now, who will be the first player from that season that pops into my head? The answer to this question is Rose. But that is because of the impact the media has on basketball. From the basketball media, there are many more Rose mentions than Howard mentions. Rose is the story of the year, because his Bulls team exceeded expectations. If Howard's team had been worse over the years, Howard could easily be the answer.

So there you have it. Howard is more valuable than Rose offensively and defensively. Rose is a great player and he definitely deserves the runner-up, but he doesn't compare to what Howard means to use team.