The rankings were posted a few hours later than usual this Sunday.
With four guys on this list in action in a pair of compelling afternoon games, it behooved all of us to wait and see those outcomes. (Especially in the case of Carmelo Anthony, who gets a big bump this week. But it also was quite the thing to see the Clips sweep the season series from the Lakers and win the Pacific Division for the first time).
Of course, it’s all bout Who is No. 2? at this point in these rankings, and the accompanying question: “Will LeBron be the Unanimous MVP?”
You may think it’s a no-brainer, but there are more than 120 voters, and all it takes is one of them — maybe a guy whose future nickname will be the same as the cartoon character pictured to your right, who will find an excuse to choose a player he covers every day.
It happened a couple years back when a couple of the Orlando writers cast their MVP ballots for Dwight Howard, one making the argument that LeBron James had tarnished his season (his final one in Cleveland) by sitting out a few late-season games to rest up for the playoffs.
Look, it happens from time to time. Not to single out Jazz broadcaster Ron Boone in a negative way, but when Chris Paul received 124 of a possible 125 first-place votes in the 2006 Rookie Of the Year voting, the other first-place vote went to Deron Williams (who finished sixth behind Paul, Charlie Villanueva, Andrew Bogut, Raymond Felton and Channing Frye.)
We all know that each of a player’s 82 games is supposed to be equally important, but we also know that reality is different — some games resonate more than others and impact voters’ choices. Let’s face it, what happens in April is fresher in voters’ minds than what happened in November. And the impact games that Anthony has been producing are earning him some props in this week’s rankings.
We’ll be back with one more set next Sunday, then I’ll cast my official ballot on the Thursday morning after the season ends.
So there’s still nine days left for some shuffling beneath LeBron.
So onto the ranks we go …