A Case Against Lebron James For NBA Finals MVP

The battle-tested Warriors grew up before a national audience to defeat the NBA's superhero, Lebron James and the Cavaliers.

According to Dan Rovel of ESPN this years NBA Finals was the highest rated since 1998, when Michael Jordan was in his last finals ever (Source). Given the superstar power of Steph Curry and Lebron James it is no surprise why.

With respect to the Warriors they went into the 2015 Finals as heavy favorites. Coming off a dissapointing 2014 playoff run, losing to the Clippers, the Warriors were considered unproven but superior in talent.

Steph Curry won his first MVP award and led the Warriors to their first NBA Championship since 1975. Steve Kerr embraced his team and focused on defense. David Lee and Andre Iguadala took a back seat accepting their roles off the bench. And it appeared that all Warriors sacrifices paid off.

In every major sport you will notice fortituous breaks benefit the champs. Kyrie Irvin and Kevin Love unexpectedly were sidelined with injury in the Finals. The basketball Gods forced the half man, half hero-Lebron James to defy all odds (at least that was the NBA narrative).

Lebron managed to give the Cavaliers a fighter's chance against the Warriors. They went up 2-1 in the Series as a result of Lebron James and Matthew Dellavodova playing out of their minds. James stat line wound up an impressive 35 points, 13 rebounds and 8.4 assist average -- the Finals MVP award was all but ready for Lebron James win lose or draw.

This is where I disagree with the majority of so called experts. Unlike regular season MVP awards there is no requirement that a player win a championship to win the award since there is less emphasis on the individual's achievement over the team's success, although the former usually produces the latter.

But when you say the NBA Finals MVP can be awarded to a player on the losing side, I have an issue. First, there is hardly a set precedent for the award to go to the losing team's player. It has only happend once in league history over 45 years ago when Jerry West won it for the Lakers in 1969. Basketball has drastically changed since 1969 but it still is one of the few major sports where one player has such a huge impact in the game, supporting the fact that the winning team player is given the award 98% of the time.

To say Lebron played well enough to change history is unequivocally false. Lebron James impressed but was simply not good enought to beat the superior Warriors squad. If James hits a few more game winning shots or pushes the Series to seven games the argument is reinforced but certainly still debatable. This was not the case so it's a moot point.

The MVP was rightfully awarded to Andre Iguadala. Iggy off the bench and as a starter shut down Lebron James when the game mattered most. James 4th quarter poor performance is not fatigue or game time adjustments or injury, it was because Iggy stepped it up in place of a struggling Thompson and Barnes who was unable to defend James. Basically, Andre Iguadala was the Kryptonite to Lebron James' Superman persona deserving the MVP award.

It should also be mentioned that Matthew Dellavadova was really the Cavs best player in crunch time in games two and three (when they beat the Warriors). Dellavodova had the tough task of replacing Irving and managed to frustrate and slow down Steph Curry. Dellavaodova hit the crucial fourth quarter shots while Lebron James scored early and often. The tandem for at least two games worked.

The success was short lived however. James missed key shots in the fourth quarter of games 1, 2 and 3. Warriors were lucky to win game 1 in overtime thanks to Lebron James who missed the final shot in regular time. To add insult to injury, Irving does not get hurt if Lebron wins the game in regular time changing the entire series. Game 2 was no different. Lebron missed yet another game winner prompting OT. At least the Cavs, thanks to Dellavadova's hustle would win this game tieing the series up. In Game 3, Lebron failed to keep the Warriors down as they nearly erased a 20 point defecit. If not for Dellavadova's and one play with a minute to go who knows if the Cavs win.

The biggest statline to me took place in game four as the Cavs looked to go up 3-1 and shock the world. In game 4, however, Lebron James scored a meager 20 points on 22 shot attempts. Lebron's FG percentage was a pathetic .318, and the Cavs were destroyed by the Warriors (Series tied at 2-2).

Also, Lebron's FG percentage was very mediocre against the Warriors at.398; 90 points below his regular season average. Lebron shot similarly against the defensive-minded Bulls two series before (.399 FG Pct) but they escaped that Series with victory. And please do not tell me James was fatigued during the finals. Ask Kobe, Jordan and Duncan about that and there will be no excuses.

Some will excuse Lebron's game four performance as a result of the head injury. In reality, Lebron's poor performance was a result of the Warriors commitment to double team and small ball offensive style of play and they sucessfully stopped his supporting cast.

To simply argue that a statline of 35 points, 13 boards, 9 assists average in the Finals is reason for an MVP award is false. The Cavs overachieved winning two games. James played great but not all-time great, and thefore did not deserve the Most Valuable Player award was awarded to the man who deserved it most on the winning team. Kudso to the voters for getting it right.