We won’t waste a lot of digital ink charting out the Byzantine complexity involved in trying to quantify a given player’s value to his team, or revisiting the old familiar arguments about which major factors should weigh more heavily than others when it comes to awarding the league’s most prestigious individual accolade, i.e. the NBA MVP trophy. It’s well-trodden territory. Suffice it to say that a number of criteria come into play, such as available statistical data (both basic and advanced), team success, recent play, strength of schedule, that rather nebulous quality we like to call “leadership,” clutch play, defense, hustle, overall basketball IQ, championship contender status, toughness, entertainment factor/GIFability, a healthy amount of subjectivity and/or confirmation bias on our part, “what have you done for me lately,” and much, much more.
So, here are our top three MVP candidates through Jan. 24. We’ve whittled the list to three instead of five so that we’re only discussing the very cream of the crop and, because this is a bi-weekly column, so that we can focus more narrowly on what’s happened in just the past two weeks. We’ll still briefly discuss a handful of other players who just missed the cut, but deserve a shout-out nonetheless.
1. Steph Curry
Curry’s lucky this column was put on brief hiatus last week; otherwise, he would’ve briefly relinquished his throne after dropping two games the previous week to inferior teams in the Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons. Of course, Curry and the Warriors followed that up by going undefeated last week, racking up consecutive wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Chicago Bulls, and the Indiana Pacers – three of the best teams the Eastern Conference has to offer. And Curry was superb in those games, posting a 39-point, 10-rebound, 12-assists triple-double against fellow MVP candidate Paul George Friday. Earlier that week was the Warriors’ now-infamous drubbing of the Cavs – during which Curry effortlessly dropped 35 points through three quarters – which may or may not have led to the summary dismissal of David Blatt, depending on who you ask. Regardless, Curry once again reigns supreme atop our standings.
2. Kawhi Leonard
The San Antonio Spurs are on a 13-game winning streak, have won 20 out of their last 21 games, and are still a perfect 24-0 on their home court. The Klaw’s stat lines probably won’t knock your socks off, but he’s been the Spurs’ best all-around player on both ends of the floor. He’s the second-best 3-point shooter in the league in terms of efficiency, and he’s the runaway favorite to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year so far this season. Next month, he’ll add first-time All-Star to his list of already-impressive career accomplishments. Kawhi and the Spurs will get their first major test of the season when they face off against Golden State Warriors Monday night in the teams’ first meeting this season.
3. Kevin Durant
The Oklahoma City Thunder have won seven straight and 10 out of their 12 games in January. Since the New Year, Durant has averaged 26.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and four assists on 49 percent shooting from the field and 36.8 percent from downtown. Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook have both been voted in as starters for the 2016 All-Star game in Toronto next month, but most importantly, the Thunder have moved securely into third place in the Western Conference standings.
Notables
Any way you slice it, it hasn’t been a good week for LeBron James or the Cavaliers. They got trounced by the Warriors on Monday, fired their coach on Friday, then lost to the Chicago Bulls Saturday in their first game under new head coach Tyronn Lue. But despite his team’s inconsistent efforts, LeBron has been his usual dominant self.
No MVP discussion would be complete without a nod to OKC’s dynamic point guard, Westbrook. The Thunder have won nine out of their last 10, and Westbrook has been spectacular over that stretch, including back-to-back triple doubles against the Timberwolves and the Heat earlier this month. It’s hard to argue against the fact that the Thunder have established themselves as a legitimate dark-horse candidate in the Western Conference.
Speaking of dark-horse candidates, the Bulls are still an unknown at this point. They’d won six consecutive games between Dec. 28 and Jan. 7, then followed that up by losing lost four out of five. But don’t blame Jimmy Butler. He’s been the steadying influence for his team and had the game of his career against the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 14 when he put up 53 points, becoming the first Bulls’ player since Jamal Crawford in 2004 to score 50 in a game. He also led the Bulls over a Cavs’ team still reeling from the head coaching shakeup Saturday.
And where would the Los Angeles Clippers be without Chris Paul who, in the absence of Blake Griffin, had quietly led his team on a 10-game winning streak this month, and in the process tightened LA’s grasp on the fourth seed in the Western Conference standings?
Lastly, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Toronto Raptors, the second-best team in the Eastern Conference, who boast a pair of fringe MVP candidates in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Toronto has won seven in a row and eight of their last 10, and if they keep it up, DeRozan might end up joining Lowry in representing the Raptors at the All-Star game on their home court in Toronto next month.
