Well...compared to Westbrook and Harden, Kawhi was barely, if even, in the picture at all about 1 week ago, so I'd say that this one game has, at the very least, been the primary source of his ascendance. So, sure, best player on a top 1-2 seed is obviously a big deal, but then why is Westbrook or Harden even in the race? Just give it to Kawhi or Curry or Durant and just say that it's a team-based award given to their best player.
That's b/c a week ago, Kevin Durant was healthy and it was assumed that the Warriors had a lock on the #1 seed.
So all that was holding back Kawhi was a blocked shot of Harden and a Durant injury? Rename the award to "Most Convenient Late Season Circumstance" then.
I wasn't being entirely serious. And me liking the Spurs has nothing to do with geography. I just admire the way they play and how they develop players. In those two videos, you had a Lakers super friends and a Miami super friends, as you put it. I don't understand why anyone would root for them over the Spurs, but to each their own.
And lack of media hype, which both Westbrook and Harden have enjoyed a ton of. If Kawhi strings together some more stellar performances in marquee matchups, his star will rise.
GSW had a more beautiful passing game last year than Spurs have had in a long time. Did you root for them? There's a big difference between rooting for a team and rooting against a team. Once I hate a team, takes a long time for me not to root against them again, especially when they are in the same division and closest city away Anyhoot/. Like you say. To each his own
Once Bruce Bowen and Sean Elliott went out of the way, they became borderline watchable and bearable for me. Ginobody was a fan favorite on their turf but I don't like watching him. Definitely can live with Kawhi.
Who's the MVP? ALSO depends on teammates and coaching. But... Would Kawhi make the Rockets better?? IMO. ...NO! Would Kawhi lead the Rockets to their current record on his own? IMO Hell NO! Would Harden make the Spurs better? Absolutely!!! 1 block doesn't make you MVP. 13 in 35 Didn't make Tmac MVP. Kawhi is a great player on a great team with multiple stars with a great coach. Stick Kawhi in any other team not coach by POP or that has no other star and he will not be considered an MVP!
So...again...it's a team-based award then, unless you're Westbrook I guess. Just re-name the award. That'd be totally fine.
it's funny how there's people still trying to discredit KL and how great of a player he is even today with who he has become. It's actually pretty sad because it's actually great to see. There's more then one great player in the league. It's not just harden. Kawhi Leonard is absolutely one of the them. This claim about putting him on another team is just complete bs. The Kawhi Leonard as of today would be a great player on any team. He has become that good.
Kawhi would make us better with or sans Harden. Preferably with Harden still there, he would cover for him and his flaw perfectly. Kawhi got decent at playmaking himself so there is this duty. We used Marcus Morris well before he was gone so I do not see how an MVP candidate won't make the Rox better. Gread idea. Invent an award for Russell, they can award someone else.
Which is fine. But then don't shill for Westbrook because he takes 45% of the possessions to get a bunch of stats on a 7 seed (the media, not you of course).
OKC hasn't always been the 7th seed. They just lost 4 games in a row which is why the media has shifted it's focus from Harden/Westbrook to Harden/Kawhi.
Not even looking at the numbers, how can anyone conclude that Leonard > LeBron when one is not a great playmaker and the other is arguably the best playmaker in the league? Is Leonard a better scorer than LeBron? A better rebounder? A better playmaker? No to all of the above. And LeBron is a great defender as well. I'd actually rather have LeBron defensively because his bigger size allows him to control the paint if a true C isn't on the court (see last years Finals), and that isn't the case for Leonard. As far as defense this season, Leonard is making players shoot 1.1% worse. LeBron is making them shoot 3.2% worse. http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/202695/defense-dash/ http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/2544/defense-dash/ (FYI, LeBron has better numbers than Leonard all around too)
Sources confirm. After 10 games: 6th; 6-4 After 20 games: 6th; 12-8 After 30 games: 6th; 18-12 After 40 games: 6th; 24-16 After 50 games: 7th; 28-22 After 60 games: 7th; 35-25 (Present) After 64 games: 7th; 35-29
In terms of standings, the 4th through 7th seeds all had very close records so it was very possible that OKC could've ended up with the 4th seed. Prior to these past 4 games (all OKC losses), OKC was 35-25, Utah was 37-23, the Clippers were 36-24, and Memphis was 35-25. Had OKC finished #4 with Westbrook averaging a triple double, he would've been ahead of Harden in the MVP race.
