Kevin Durant beating Lebron James to the MVP trophy

With a week away from the All-Star break, it seems that Lebron James’ stranglehold on the MVP trophy is finally going away. Take nothing away from Lebron, he is still (in my opinion) the best player in the league right now. Just not the league’s MVP.

Here is a comparison of Lebron James and Kevin Durant in this season:

Durant is averaging 31 points with 5.3 assists per game. He is ahead of James’ points per game of 26.3 and just behind his assists of 6.6. In the last 10 games, Durant is averaging 33 points per game and 7 rebounds whereas Lebron averages 27.9 points per game and 7.5 rebounds. In the year, Durant has notched up 15 double-doubles and two triple-doubles to Lebron James’ 9 double-doubles.

KD’s dominance and ease of scoring was clearly visible in Oklahoma City Thunder’s recent victory over James’ Miami Heat in Miami. Durant went for 33 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 assists while being guarded by James throughout the match. Over the entire January, Durant became the 1st person since Michael Jordan to average at least 35 points, six rebounds and six assists over an entire month. Also, from Jan 7th to Jan 29th, Durant scored at least 30 points in all 12 games.

Lebron James was awarded the MVP in the last 2 years (and also in 2009 and 2010) for mainly 2 reasons:
1. Best player in the best team: Right now, OKC has the best record in the NBA and KD is reason they are there.
2. Player efficiency rating: James has led this category for the past 5 years but right now he is second with a rating of 28.7 and Kevin Durant is 1st with 31.1

Let’s also not forget the fact that James plays on a team with two other superstars and a future hall of famer – Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Ray Allen respectively. Durant has had to shoulder the load of an entire team since point guard Russell Westbrook went down with an injury.
Lebron James might still be the best player in the league right now. But definitely not the MVP.