Wade for MVP?

When it comes to D Wade, I have nothing but love to give. I love everything about him, from the swagger to the suits, from the now banned band aids to "Eat the Head!" I love his creativity, both on the floor and at the rim, where it is perhaps unrivaled. I love him for his squeaky clean image(former?) just as much as I liked to hear about his blunted sex parties(is that too much?). With an improved jump shot and his return to the athletic elite within the Association Wade has been put back together only to become more than whole, D "Lil Wanyne" Wade, on top of the game.

Wade, in a back and forth battle with Bron, is currently leading the league in scoring. He is second in the league in steals, 9th in assists, a ludicrous 21st in blocks at 1.42(you have to go down to J Kidd at 69 to find another guard). His usage rate is at a career high, as well as tops in the league. Wanna see something cool. Check out his last 5 games. 37.8 pts on 56%FG, 11 asts, 7.0 rbs, 3.4 stls and 1.2 blks. Those are Shaqovician. Herculean. Wilt in a down week? Just Absurd. The only stain being a pair of 8 turnover games with a 4.4 TO average. And of course 3-2 record, losing a pair to Mo Williams and the Cavs (yeah that's right, Mo...check the boxes from those two). This is a season trend, the team just can't put together a string of wins. With the Heat only at 34-29, what more can Wade do?

Among the Heat's top 6 scorers there are two rookies, a sophomore, a grind it out PF and the shadow of a former all-star(one replaced by another taller, less athletic version) that no one really wants. They compete, but big nights are few and far between from Wade's teammates.

Still, there stands Wade, a super hero among mere mortals. Ready to fight, scrape and claw for 48 every night. Wade has already given us a season for the ages and seemingly tops himself every time he laces 'em up. He does the incredible and unbelievable night in and night out. Still, he has not been the best player in the NBA this season. In a league of hype and potential we are so often left disappointed, but here is no athlete that has carried expectation like the leader of the Cleveland Cavaliers. This season has be no different from the past, other than the now outside expectation of winning a championship. The chosen one now as always excepts this burden and his fate. And for that, He we celebrate; He, we call King.

In another season, perhaps another Lebron-less reality, Dwayne Wade would be my MVP. While many may look at the MVP race and its recent past and argue thatone must win to be crowned, but I do not. While Kobe certainly deserved to win one before his time on top passed him by, I whole heartedly believe that Lebron should have been MVP the last two seasons. The recent MVPs have been rewarded for winning. After all, we play to win the game. Still, the voters refused to acknowledge that the best player on the planet was and is undenaibly, Lebron James.

In 2006-2007 Lebron James and the cavs reached the finals with what was called the worst team ever to get that far . There they met one of the G.O.A.T.s in our league, R.C. Buford. He is GM of the best run sports franchise of our generation. There are few talents in a generation that can overcome the many obstacles necessary to win multiple championships. Championships cannot be won alone(see KG, A.I., Karl Malone, Barkley) and a great supporting cast is a necesity. By seasons end, Lebron was the most feared offensive player in the game, and he put his entire game on display in Detriot on that infamous day. His season average of 27, 7, 6 were just not enough for the voters.

In 2007-2008 Kobe Bryant finally learned to play the right way(It only took 9 years or so). Lebron was born rifling a pass across the delivery room for an easy lay-up(He probably flexed afterward also). Passing is the one area in which Kobe will never be able to touch Lebron. Of course Kobe had to win the MVP before Lebron could, that much I can understand. Not only did this MVP season include the most lopsided deal in the history of the league but also Kobe's best supporting cast since the Shaq days. Lebron was eliminated early from the MVP talk due to record, even while he was enjoying another ridiculous leap in ability. Lebron managed to improve all across the board, beginning to show defensive prowess and potential lock down ability.The Cavaliers dealt with the contract hold-outs of Andy Varejao(who gained weight and lost much of the quickness and movement that made him so valuable) and Sasha Pavlovic(who ended up injured and never made an impact), the injuries to Boobie(was a top 3 three-point shooter in the league when he went down), Z, Lebron(went 0-7 without) and a massive trade that shipped out about a third of the roster(Shout out to Danny Ferry, just incredible roster moves, all bad players out, all good in). The team was forced to start over in many ways with more than half of the season gone. Lebron lifted his game to an even higher level assuring the cavs the 4th seed and 1st round home court. He lead the league in scoring, averaging 30 8 and 7, comparable only to two of the greatest players of all time(Big O and MJ if you don't know).

2008-Present. At the current 3/4 point in the season, the Cavs sit atop the Eastern Conference and the NBA for the first time in Lebron era. Lebron is leading the league in PER at 31.13. For the first half of the season it was just above 32 which would have been the highest ever, now he is only following a handful of Wilt and MJ seasons. Beyond that, all of MJ's seasons with a higher PER than Lebron's were his youthful days before he truly learned how to win. Lebron is doing this on the best team in the NBA. All this in 3 fewer minutes. which doesn't sound like much, but thats more than 7% of game time. This includes career highs in blocks, fg%, ft% and a much improved stroke. An improved stroke has spurned some controversy among the NBA's most devout followers.

His ability to truly score from the perimiter at a high level first showed up in his play in the summer of '07 in the Olympic qualifying tournament Lebron played in with Team USA. Lebron, in ten games, average 18.8 pts on 76% shooting, but more importantly shot 67% from the short 3 point line. Of course this was against the weakest opponent he had faced since high school, but his comfort from outside the paint was clearly growing. In the following season a step backwards or two were taken. Lebron, due to team turmoil, was forced at act as savior night in and night out. There was also his penchant for taking step back threes. Some of his progress went by the way-side, and while his shot could be deadly, it would never be confused with consistent. Still this led to what I argue to be the most gut wrenching, heart pounding show in the NBA. This season, a close Cavs game results in me almost throwing up, while last year a close game was well,every game, but the excitement could not be denied.

This season Lebron is still critisized for his lack of a consistent jumper. And it remains his greatest weakness. At times this weakness is due to his insistence on firing an off balance jumper instead of an unstoppable foray to the hoop. At times it has been needed and he just couldn't get it going, most noticably against the NBA's elite on national TV. For each of these dissapointments t. For the first time in his career Lebron was expected to win against the best. On their floor. Lebron's career has been one of exceeding wild expectation. Perhaps it was only me that expected to win each of these games, after all, great teams protect home floor as no one has done better than the Cavs(28-1). Finally though the expectations, if even for a few games caught up with Lebron.

Now, those night of dissapointment are far and away overshadowed by nights of Lebron the myth, Lebron the King. Lebron's confidence is at an all time high(and that is saying some thing for a man that is not opposed to talk in the third person). His summer experience, taking team USA back to the top, most noticably quarterbacking the Defense, has taken his leadership to the next level. His voice leads the team on that end, while his shot blocking has become the last line of defense on the leagues stingiest team. His name is in the Defensive player of the year category talks after dominating for almost 2 years. He is number one in Offensive Win Shares and two in Defensive Win Shares. He is number 3 in clutch points as well as in the top 10 in clutch rebounding. Lebron also leads the league in adjusted +/- by a huge margin. The plus-minus stats can't be used to compare Bron to D Wade as his supporting cast is no where nearly as good as the cavs. It is though a good tool to show how much worse the cavs are with Lebron off the court than say, the Lakers are. Kobe Byants +/- while still 4th in the league is little more than half of what Lebron's is. The combination of the best supporting cast Lebron has seen in addition to his natural(extraterrestrial?) progress has resulted in two types fire works. There are the Cavs blow out wins, and the Lebron the legend continues night. The cavs lead the league in scoring margin(the statistical best indicator of future sucess). Lebron leads the league in disbelief and dominance. There is the 52 in NYC. The 55 in Milwakee that spurned a furious debate that was one of my favorite read on my favorite NBA Blog: Free Darko(recommended reading about lebro'sn 3 point bomb display:original, discussion, rewrite). Finally perhaps best all around performance in the NBA this season, not that it shows up in the stats exactly, was the complete destruction of Boston in Quicken Loans Arena. Lebron had 38, 6 and 4, with 4 steals, 3 blocks all while holding Paul Peirce to 11 pts on 4-15 FGs. With this new ability to go Game Five on any given night, the ceiling for Lebron and the Cavs is more or less boundless.

Still this magical season has not been flawless and that now is more clear than ever. For the first time the expectations are all there. Lebron is the MVP and the Cavs sitting atop the NBA. Lebron has had a regular season for the ages. Still, this team is still unproven in the playoffs and seems to have trouble against the leagues elite. But, there are two more MVPs that Lebron is planning on picking up and boy am I going to enjoy watching teams try to stop him...