On the other end of the court he’s currently riding a franchise-best streak of five consecutive games scoring
LeBron James, 2013 NBA All-Star
30 or more points.
That’s offensive dominance.
Durant is averaging 28.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1.8 fouls per game in 38.8 minutes. He’s shooting a career-high 51.6 percent from the field and 90.4 percent on free throws.
Durant has lifted an Oklahoma City team that traded away James Harden – perhaps its second-best player – to Houston. And the Thunder have the NBA’s second-best record while playing in the tougher Western Conference. No arguments there. Durant is having a great season.
I understand that.
I also understand Durant deserves an MVP award some day. When he retires, he might be considered among the best all-time at his position. Maybe. We’ll see. He’s certainly on that path.
None of that means he should get this season’s MVP.
By the way, let’s eliminate that ridiculous MVP argument about taking each player off his team and seeing how the rest of the team fares.
Oklahoma City isn’t going anywhere without Durant. Miami isn’t going anywhere without James. Maybe the Heat does better because it’s in the East, but who cares?
We also know James is a better all-around player than Durant. But again, who cares? That shouldn’t determine the MVP for a particular season.
Again, we have to go back to LeBron shouldering a heavier load, and doing it on a nightly basis.
Granted, Heat guard Dwyane Wade has sprung back to life recently. His knee is fully recovered from offseason surgery and he’s returned to being a beast.
But James hasn’t always had such help.
Among Oklahoma City’s top seven players – Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, Thabo Sefolosha, Kevin Martin and Nick Collison – they’ve missed a total of three games.
Among the Heat’s top seven players – James, Wade, Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Mario Chalmers, Ray Allen and Shane Battier – they’ve missed a total of 17 games.
That’s more than five times as many absences among the Heat’s main players. That helps explains Miami’s disappointing 12-11 road record.
Despite that, James has kept his team atop the Eastern Conference standings for pretty much the entire season.
Granted, James is shooting .741 from the free throw line, the fourth-worst total of his career. Nobody’s perfect.
But LeBron James has been better than anyone else so far this season.
Chris Perkins is a veteran Miami-based sports journalist who covers the Heat for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter.