Official NBA Race to the MVP Thread

[STL Don]

1.Carmelo Anthony
2.LeBron James
3.Kevin Durant
4.Tim Duncan
5.Zach Randolph
6.Chris Paul
7.Rajon Rondo
8.Kobe Bryant
9.Deron Williams
10.James Harden

Melo to me so far has been the league's most 'valuable' player. He's led his Knicks to a surprising 13-4 start and this is after a season where Melo was criticized more than any other point in his career and the thought had settled into a lot of people's minds that Melo couldn't share the ball enough and be the best player on a championship team. SO FAR he has proved the doubters wrong and has helped his team off to an incredible start. He's played efficient and has put in a lot more effort on the defensive end. To me, he's the MVP so far.
I also showed much love to Zach Randolph who has also led his team to a very surprising start at 13-3 atop the Western Conference. His production has shown how truly important he is to this franchise and is clearly their best player when healthy. He's off to a great start statistically and has been a monster on the boards. Simply unstoppable thus far in the early going.

[ManRamForPrez24]

I have a hard time gauging Randolph. Some of it might be the fact that I haven't seen much of the Grizz this year, but he, Gasol and Conley are having great years and are probably equally valuable. And then Rudy Gay is the team's leading scorer. I feel like the 4 of them compliment each other so well, and without one you'd see a big drop off. I just can't be certain it's Randolph that beats that drum.


It's hard for me to rank these guys this early. I think Durant is the frontrunner, but Melo and LeBron aren't far behind.

[bucketss]

melo not so valuable after all

#Threetothedome #Knickstape

[Il Mago50]

Cp3

[koreancabbage]

1.Carmelo Anthony
2.LeBron James
3.Kevin Durant
4.Tim Duncan
5.Zach Randolph
6.Chris Paul
7.Rajon Rondo
8.Kobe Bryant
9.Deron Williams
10.James Harden

Melo to me so far has been the league's most 'valuable' player. He's led his Knicks to a surprising 13-4 start and this is after a season where Melo was criticized more than any other point in his career and the thought had settled into a lot of people's minds that Melo couldn't share the ball enough and be the best player on a championship team. SO FAR he has proved the doubters wrong and has helped his team off to an incredible start. He's played efficient and has put in a lot more effort on the defensive end. To me, he's the MVP so far.
I also showed much love to Zach Randolph who has also led his team to a very surprising start at 13-3 atop the Western Conference. His production has shown how truly important he is to this franchise and is clearly their best player when healthy. He's off to a great start statistically and has been a monster on the boards. Simply unstoppable thus far in the early going.

Melo is overrated. If anything Mike Woodson should be the MVP moreso than Melo. I would never take this thing seriously if Melo won it. Look at the ball movement from the Knicks yesterday against the Heat - the best I've seen all year long from the Knicks and they were already decent team with Melo. New York didn't need Melo before he got there. Still a ball stopper in most scenarios but its just that its early in the season and Melo is coming off an Oympic high where he played extremely well. i'm pretty sure all his averages will drop to his career before the season is said and done.

[koreancabbage]

funniest thing though I think Melo will become a much better player with Lebron.

[JasonJohnHorn]

NBA.com had Parker on the list ahead of Duncan for crying out loud.

Firstly, LBJ is the clear cut number one pick for MVP this season. Secondly, Duncan should be in the conversation.

[xxplayerxx23]

How is melo overrated so far this year? Lol

[LongIslandIcedZ]

Lebron

Melo/Durant
Durant/Melo

I think its pretty clearly Lebron. Watching the game last night, the Knicks werent even playing the heat, they were playing Lebron.

Bosh is playing well, but without Lebron I dont know how good this team would even be. I was extremely impressed with Lebron last night. He has evolved so much as a player over the past couple of years, we could be watching the eventual second best player of all time.

Melo is playing great, and anyone denying that is probably just trying to instigate something. Having said that, the Knicks are playing tremendous team ball, and Chandler and Felton are playing like legitimate all stars.

[bucketss]

remember someone said miami would be a top 5 seed without lebron.

[ManRamForPrez24]

remember someone said miami would be a top 5 seed without lebron.

I think it could have been possible in the past, but no way that's the case this year.

[Im_in_Mia_bish]

smh

[ManRamForPrez24]

How is melo overrated so far this year? Lol

Well, ratedness is a tricky thing. Melo plays well and he skyrockets in many people's (mainly Knicks fans) minds. Thus, they start overrating him. This probably forces other fans to simultaneously discredit him, and thus underrate him.

So I don't know. Like just about everyone else, he is overrated by many, and underrated by many. It depends on how that person is indeed rating him.

[LongIslandIcedZ]

I cant believe people still go by this overrated/underrated thing. It's so subjective and an unwinnable argument. The kid that says Melo is the best player in basketball right now, is obviously overrating him. However, the kids that say he is the 17th best player in the game, is probably underrating him.

It works with everyone.

[KnickaBocka.44]

The problem is rating and ranking players in general.


On any given night, there are one or two handfuls of players that can look like the best in the NBA. Lebron does it more often than anyone else and that is why he is widely regarded as the best player in the game today.

However, this does not necessarily guarantee that he is the MVP year in and year out.

When he was with the Cavaliers and he was single handedly carrying the team, he was without a doubt the MVP because without him they would surely be lottery bound. He was the sole reason for their success and, thus, more valuable to his team's high, some would say overachieving (because of the lack of talent surrounding him), level of success than any other player was to their respective team.

There are obviously tiers of players that can be compared to one another and be debated but to try and say that "Player A is number 4, Player B is number 3 and Player C is definitely number 2" is pointless and served by bias regardless of who the conversation is between.

The MVP award is not simply justified by statistical greatness, it also warrants a consideration of the context in which the players performances were given and the level of success that was achieved by the team as a whole.