The King James Curse

Unlike most major American sports, the NBA is a sovereignty where the best player’s contributions directly correlate to a team’s success. The best players claim dominion over eras in NBA basketball and this era (2008-2015) is the Lebron James era.  

With the coming of Anthony Davis, the sun is beginning to set on the Lebron era. Lebron’s reign from 08 through was truly remarkable and, with the exception of the Jordan era, Lebron has played the best basketball of anyone in the modern era (1981-2015).

***Side Note*** I am a Jordan disciple but Lebron is a lot closer to Mike than I realized. Looking at their primes, Jordan bests Lebron but not by much.

ERA	Games	Min/ Game	FG%	FT%	3PT%	PPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	True Shooting %	Win Shares
MJ 88-97	666	38.8	.514	.840	.356	31.8	6.5	5.7	2.5	0.9	2.7	.588	156.3
LBJ 07-15	673	38.5	.510	.744	.346	27.6	7.3	7.0	1.7	0.8	3.4	.596	143.3

*Courtesy of nba-reference.com

Both Jordan and Lebron reached six NBA finals during this era. While Jordan won four MVP’s during this era, an argument can be made that Jordan should have won eight (maybe 10 if not for the first retirement). Lebron won four MVP’s during his era and an argument can be made that Lebron should have eight MVPs himself. The distinction between the Jordan and Lebron robberies is that Jordan lost out on MVPs to the game’s all-time greats:

• ·         89 & 90- Magic (best PG ever)
• ·         1993- Barkley (best power forward ever *Tim Duncan is not a PF)
• ·         1997- Karl Malone (2^nd all-time leading scorer)
• ·         *Olajuwon and the Admiral aren’t included here due to MJ’s first retirement

Conversely, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, the players besting Lebron for MVP do not seem destined to go down as an NBA all-timers. Including Kobe’s MVP, each time Lebron lost the MVP during his era, there was considerable questions as to the merit of these players receiving the award, to which I propose has resulted in a curse on each player: The King James Curse.

2008- Kobe Bryant

Why they Gave Kobe an MVP

I describe this year as the year the sports media looked and said, “Oh shit, Kobe doesn’t have an MVP.” There are two distinct criteria for the MVP, you’re either the best player on the team with the best record or you have had a statistical season that is leaps and bounds superior to the next closest player.

In 2008, Kobe Bryant fit neither description. The Boston Celtics, who had an all-time great season winning 66 regular season games, were clearly the best team in the NBA. While Bryant’s Lakers were the #1 seed in the tougher west, the 1st seed and the 8th seed were only separated by seven games. The Lakers only won the pacific by two games and they were two games awayfrom being the 5^th seed in the west. The point here is that the 2008 Lakers were not the best team.

Why Lebron Should have Won

The 2008 statistical comparison between Kobe and Lebron wasn’t even close.

	PPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FT%	3PT%	Value over Replacement
Kobe	28.3	6.3	5.4	1.8	.5	.459	.840	.361	6.0
Lebron	30.0	7.9	7.2	1.8	1.1	.484	.712	.315	10.1

 *Courtesy of nba-reference.com

The media looked at the 23 year-old Lebron and said, “You’re going to win a lot of MVPs in the future, we’re giving this on to Kobe.”

The Curse

Finals Defeat- Bryant and the Lakers lost the 2008 NBA Finals to Boston Celtics. While Kobe went on to win two more championships (more so due to the Jameer Nelson and Kendrick Perkins injuries and a miracle shot by Ron Artest), this marked the end of Kobe Brayant as an elite player.

Shooting in the Gym- Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce from Kobe in 2011 claiming half of the Bryant estate. It was widely reported that in order to have the divorce called off, Kobe had to buy her Vanessa’s a house next door theirs and, among other things, Kobe is not allowed to be solo in the presence of other women. When chilling, Kobe cannot have a female waitress and the Bryant’s reportedly have a male nanny (can anyone say, payback for Eagle, CO)!

Grumpy, Injured Old Kobe- Kobe missed 137 regular season games since he robbed LBJ for the 2008 MVP. In comparison, including 2015’s two week in season Miami vacation, Lebron has only missed 37 games. While Kobe is only old in relation to NBA terms, Kobe is the NBA version of your mean-ass uncle on your grandma’s porch. For instance, last week while the world was delighting in the Deandre Jordan emoji war, Kobe had to ruin the fun by reminding everyone that he has 5 rings.

2011- Derrick Rose

Why they Gave Rose the MVP

As a Bulls fan, it pains me to say this but D-Rose should not have won the 2011 MVP. I will note that Derrick Rose was the best player on the regular season’s best team (62-20).

I describe this season as the year of “Lebron the  Villain.” After Lebron made the disastrous decision to announce his move to Miami via an ESPN special, the media completely turned its back on Lebron. The decision and the forming of the big three was an arrogant play and as Joakim Noah described it, “Hollywood as Hell.” In the height of Miami Heat hubris, the hardworking Chicago Bulls led by the muted Derrick Rose was the perfect antithesis of diva, villain Lebron.

Why Lebron Should have Won

Looking at the numbers, Lebron had a statically better season than D-Rose.

	PPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FT%	3PT%	Value over Replacement
D-Rose	25.0	4.1	7.7	1.0	.6	.445	.858	.332	6.0
Lebron	26.7	7.5	7.0	1.6	.6	.510	.759	.330	8.2

*Courtesy of nba-reference.com 

While the statically the numbers were closer than the Kobe/Lebron debacle, the best argument for Lebron is that he had such a great season sharing the ball with Wade and Bosh in their primes while Keith Bogans started 82 games for the Bulls.

The Curse

2011 Eastern Conference Finals- While hotly contested, the Miami Heat defeated the Chicago Bulls in 5 games to win the east.

The ACL- The following season, D-Rose suffered a devastating ACL tear.

The Meniscus Tears- D-Rose twice tore his meniscus resulting in him missing 103 games in addition to the full season missed after his ACL tear. 

The Derrick Rose Suits- Due to him missing so much time, we found out Derrick Rose has a tremendous stylist. So much so, whenever a player sits on the bench in a nice suit, the internets deems it a Derrick Rose Suit.

2014 -Kevin Durant

Why they Gave KD the MVP

LeBron Fatigue and Injury

While Derrick Rose is not considered an equal NBA talent as LBJ, Durant is widely considered the 2^nd best player in the league. Prior to the 2014 season Durant openly scoffed at being consideedr lesser than Lebron and was hell bent on illustrating his superiority.

The two players got off to remarkable starts to their seasons but injury framed the context of this MVP campaign. Each player’s side kick missed considerable time (Westbrook missed 36 games, Wade missed 28 games). While Wade’s injuries were viewed as “player maintenance,” Westbrook had complications from meniscus surgery and thus his injury was deemed as having more merit.

Durant went on a tear leading the league in scoring, powering OKC to 59 wins (Miami won 54), leading OKC on a 15 of 17 run without Westbrook, including a 54 point game at Golden State and an impressive Westbrook-less victory in Miami.

Why Lebron Should have Won

While statistically Durant had a better year than Lebron, I invoke the Lebron had to do everything card. While Durant led the Thunder in scoring, Westbrook led in assists and Ibaka led in rebounds. Lebron led the 2014 Heat in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, minutes, and field goal percentage. Moreover, OKC was ripe with young talent (Westbrook, Ibaka, Jackson, Adams) while Bosh was the Heat’s only rotation player of significance under the age of 30.

	PPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FT%	3PT%	Value over Replacement
Durant	32.0	7.4	5.5	1.3	.7	.503	.873	.391	8.5
Lebron	27.1	6.9	6.3	1.6	.3	.567	.750	.379	8.0

 *Courtesy of nba-reference.com

The Curse

You the Real MVP- While Durant’s 2014 MVP speech was a touching dedication to his mom and teammates, the speech was a bit too sappy for my taste. From the speech came the classic line, “You’re the Real MVP.” Whenever the twitter and the gram mocks you, it’s never a good look. And while Durant thinks his mom is the real MVP, he should’ve directed the remark to Lebron.

Serge Ibaka’s Injury/ Westbrook’s Shot Selection- Durant and the Thunder looked poised to make a return to the NBA Finals until Serge Ibaka strained his calf. Although Ibaka made a valiant effort, he didn’t have the health necessary to prevent a Spurs victory in 6 games. Also, during the series, Westbrook decided he was HNIC and, despite playing less minutes and only shooting 40%, Russ took more shots than the MVP. If Westbrook don’t respect Durant as the team’s MVP, how can we respect him as the 2014 league MVP?

Harden: You passin KD the ball today?
Russ: Hell Nawl!!!

Foot Injuries- Durant re-aggravated his foot injury in training camp and again during the year resulting in a lost season due to surgeries. There is legitimate concern that Durant, as a seven footer, could have chronic foot injuries that may compromise his remaining career.

2015- Step Curry

Why they gave the MVP to Steph

The 2015 MVP race was an examination of skill versus talent. Curry’s sweet shooting is attributed to practice, hard work and dedication. Conversely, when you’re 6’9 270 pounds with elite speed and athleticism, the common consensus is to attach success to physical talent. Whenever an athletic argument in any sport is framed through the lens of skill versus athleticism, the public will side with skill. Also, is doesn’t help when you get a shoutout from Drizzy in the best song of the year!

Why Lebron Should have Won MVP

While Steph was the best player on a historically great Warriors team, Lebron slightly beat out Steph statistically. The key here is Lebron, had this great season while acclimating himself into a new team with two new all-star players.

	PPG	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG%	FT%	3PT%	Value over Replacement
Steph	23.8	4.3	7.7	2.0	.2	.487	.914	.443	7.9
Lebron	25.3	6.0	7.4	1.6	.7	.488	.710	.354	5.9

  *Courtesy of nba-reference.com

The Curse

Tell lite-skin to watch out!