Sheridan Hoops MVP Rankings After Week 19

RANK	PLAYER	RUNDOWN	LAST
1		LeBRON JAMES, F, MIAMI: The redemption tour continues today against the Pacers, who are 2-0 vs. the Heat. Let’s just say I don’t like their chances. Here’s James’ week in review: 12-of-23 vs. New York, 9-of-16 vs. Minnesota, 7-of-14 with the game-winner vs. Orlando; 10-of-17 vs. Philly. That makes it 27 of the past 30 games where he has shot 50 percent or better. Teams this good have rarely existed.	1
2		KEVIN DURANT, F, OKLAHOMA CITY: In somewhat of a slump over the past 10 games, shooting only 43.9 percent, yet remains a member of the 50-40-90 club because of what he has done the entire season, so we are not going to let one so-so stretch override the big picture. But let there be no doubt that he is the most distant No. 2 since Twice a Prince placed in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, 31 lengths behind Secretariat.	3
3		DWYANE WADE, G, MIAMI: Another fella who benefits from our spring forward theme. As we did with James, let’s look at his week in review: 8-of-16 vs. New York; 15-of-23 vs. Minnesota; 10-of-16 vs. Orlando; 9-of-16 vs. Philly. That brings his 50 percent streak to nine games and moved him to 19th in the NBA in FG pct (.523). He might just catch Parker (.533).	5
4		KOBE BRYANT, G, LA LAKERS: Question: Is he more feared than James? That’s a tough answer. Is he more revered among his peers than James? Damn right he is. Never seen a player’s performance make his peers flock to Twitter as what we saw after his 41-point, 12-assist effort in the win over Toronto. They’ve won 7 of 9, and here’s Kobe’s point totals in the last 8: 41, 42, 30, 34, 33, 29, 38, 40. So, yes, he deserves this much of a spring forward for a Lakers team finally above .500.	7
5		TONY PARKER, G, SAN ANTONIO: We warned there would be tough love for Tony here after it was announced he was out a month, and this is what tough love looks like. This next stat has nothing to do with Parker, but it bears mentioning because it was so astounding. The Spurs gave up 136 points and lost at home by 30 to Portland in a game that was tied at halftime. Pop might have switched to Thunderbird after that one.	2
6		CHRIS PAUL, G, LA CLIPPERS: Why does he fall back when his team owns the Lakers, Staples Center and the Pacific Division? Because life ain’t fair, that’s why. He couldn’t even get ranked ahead of a Laker in our inaugural free agent rankings, which will run every Tuesday until August. His team was 1-2, losing to Denver (beware that freight train) and OKC (we had two great items on Russell Westbrook, this one and this one. Worth the clickthroughs.)	6
7		PAUL GEORGE, G-F, INDIANA: Doing it all for the most surprising team in the East, and I am eager to see what he can manage later today when he has LeBron draped all over him. Will need to be a volume shooter once again now that Danny Granger is back on the shelf, but he is making less than 43 percent of his shots and has failed to reach 20 points in four of Indiana’s past eight games.	4
8		CARMELO ANTHONY, F, NEW YORK: Listed as day-to-day by the Knicks, who use that term for everyone except Amar’e Stoudemire, out six weeks for a knee debridement procedure. Debridement? Isn’t that what Michael Jordan did with Juanita? Knicks open five-game West swing Monday where easiest foe is Portland. If ‘Melo keeps sitting, they could be looking up at Brooklyn in the standings when these rankings run again a week from now. He also might fall to No. 3 in the scoring race if Kobe keeps up his current pace.	8
9		JAMES HARDEN, G, HOUSTON: Please, please, please let there be a Rockets-Thunder first-round matchup. More on that here in today’s featured column by Jan Hubbard. From the “Go Figure” annals: Harden shot 3-of-17 at Golden State, yet his team won. He then shot 11-of-17 at Phoenix and his team lost. Still, no player (outside of Paul George) is more responsible for his team’s overachievement than this guy.	9
10		KEVIN GARNETT, C, BOSTON: One of the joys of covering this league for 20 years is that nearly every night, I see something I’ve never seen before. The treat this week was KG’s point-center act to close Wednesday’s comeback win at Indiana when the Celtics turned the Pacers into mental midgets over the final 4 1/2 minutes and KG dished to a pair of wide-open teammates on the two biggest possessions of the final minute. Dude inspired a rare broadcaster triple-chest-pound. But is he the NBA’s best center? Or is Al Horford?	–