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I’m tired of this insidious narrative that Lebron should win MVP regardless of the outcome of the Finals.
Let me be clear, No he fucking shouldn’t.
The precedence for this ridiculous line of thinking has to do with Jerry West winning the inaugural NBA Finals award while losing in the finals.
But Jerry West had been to 6 finals at that point, he had lost every one and lost them to the same team. The problem was that while the Lakers had guards, the Celtics had size (Bill Russell) and this is the retro no 3pt line NBA so, size wins.
Well, in 1969 the Lakers got Chamberlain and finally were poised to win the championship. And then they started the finals series up 2-0, surely this would be the season they would finally win.
But no, and in game 4, where Boston evened the series with a 1 point victory, West went for 40 on 50% FG and 10/10 from the line, Chamberlain was dogshit, getting eaten alive by Russell (he got rebounds but went 2 for 11 in that game 4) West went for another 39 to take Game 5 and then Boston took game 6. Setting up Game 7.
West was outrageous, he had a 42 pt, 13 rebound, 12 assist game (for a 6’2 white guy) But it wasn’t enough and Boston beat them by 2 points in game 7. Where the Lakers turned it over late and a key steal by West was tipped into a the hands of Don Nelson who made one of the luckiest shots in finals history a 15 footer that bounced off the rim about 5 feet straight up and dropped in.
A gut wrenching loss for West and the Lakers, 6 consecutive times, to the same team, this one ending in the final moments of a game 7. West averaged 38ppg 4.7rebs 7.4asts on great percentages. And with the inaugural award they decided to reward the effort of West over Havlicek.
So there you go. Lebron has 3 chips, and 3 finals MVPs, there is nowhere near the sentimental value that there was for West.
Also West didn’t get swept, or tossed in 5 games... he led his team to a game 7 and lost in the final moments to the team who had beaten him 5 times already.
And finally, West didn’t isolate himself from his teammates, he didn’t bury his fucking face in his hands in a critical moment because of their mistake. He doesn’t use them as an excuse for his failures, he doesn’t stand in front of the media and ask “how much more could I possibly be expected to carry this dogshit team I have”.
So no Lebron is not Finals MVP, unless he wins this series somehow, and that’s it. He’s about as responsible for his team losing (and not having the players) as any player has ever been.
Winning isn’t easy and to reward a loser is an insult to those who found ways to win.
@Revolver - we’re going to need a new thread for tonight’s game anyway and the other one is dead.
Let me be clear, No he fucking shouldn’t.
The precedence for this ridiculous line of thinking has to do with Jerry West winning the inaugural NBA Finals award while losing in the finals.
But Jerry West had been to 6 finals at that point, he had lost every one and lost them to the same team. The problem was that while the Lakers had guards, the Celtics had size (Bill Russell) and this is the retro no 3pt line NBA so, size wins.
Well, in 1969 the Lakers got Chamberlain and finally were poised to win the championship. And then they started the finals series up 2-0, surely this would be the season they would finally win.
But no, and in game 4, where Boston evened the series with a 1 point victory, West went for 40 on 50% FG and 10/10 from the line, Chamberlain was dogshit, getting eaten alive by Russell (he got rebounds but went 2 for 11 in that game 4) West went for another 39 to take Game 5 and then Boston took game 6. Setting up Game 7.
West was outrageous, he had a 42 pt, 13 rebound, 12 assist game (for a 6’2 white guy) But it wasn’t enough and Boston beat them by 2 points in game 7. Where the Lakers turned it over late and a key steal by West was tipped into a the hands of Don Nelson who made one of the luckiest shots in finals history a 15 footer that bounced off the rim about 5 feet straight up and dropped in.
A gut wrenching loss for West and the Lakers, 6 consecutive times, to the same team, this one ending in the final moments of a game 7. West averaged 38ppg 4.7rebs 7.4asts on great percentages. And with the inaugural award they decided to reward the effort of West over Havlicek.
So there you go. Lebron has 3 chips, and 3 finals MVPs, there is nowhere near the sentimental value that there was for West.
Also West didn’t get swept, or tossed in 5 games... he led his team to a game 7 and lost in the final moments to the team who had beaten him 5 times already.
And finally, West didn’t isolate himself from his teammates, he didn’t bury his fucking face in his hands in a critical moment because of their mistake. He doesn’t use them as an excuse for his failures, he doesn’t stand in front of the media and ask “how much more could I possibly be expected to carry this dogshit team I have”.
So no Lebron is not Finals MVP, unless he wins this series somehow, and that’s it. He’s about as responsible for his team losing (and not having the players) as any player has ever been.
Winning isn’t easy and to reward a loser is an insult to those who found ways to win.
@Revolver - we’re going to need a new thread for tonight’s game anyway and the other one is dead.