Yeah, Bird is the only player since the merger to do it. And you wonder how many he would have had, had he not injured his back.
You never know how things go. I've lost count of the number of times people confidently predicted a success the following season for the champions (Boston after the 2008 finals, Miami after the 2013 finals, Golden State after the 2018 finals, even the Bucks after 2021). Things don't always play out as you plan for a myriad of factors. Even if injuries don't play a role, sometimes hunger isn't there and the margins are so tight that even at 99% instead of 100% could be the difference.
They are not even really disagreeing. That’s what makes this discussion so weird.
MVPs are not as important as chips but they are far from irrelevant.
Absolutely. No guarantees at all but this team does seem built for more success, if they get the necessary breaks.
While I understand advanced metrics definitely count for something, they don't tell the story of how truly dominant Bryant was in a team bereft of talent. Our second best player was a still quite poor Odom back then, while Nash had All-Stars with Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, and MIP Boris Diaw. Marion led the team in points, rebounds, steals and blocks per game.
Oops, missed your post and I've just done something very similar. My bad.
Wilt did win one FMVP but the award didn't exist for much of his career. He only won 2 titles though, compared to Russell's 11.
Eh? Who do you speak of?
I thought that it was best left alone. It made no sense.
What are they relevant for? Personal glory perhaps and this new culture of liking / following players instead of teams. Now, I'm not gonna lie, I like Jokic and not Denver but still I think the championship is far more important than an MVP award.
Who is troubled by Doncic and Jokic? Odd post.
Of course it is relevant. It's like saying the Ballo D'Or is not relevant. Makes no sense
I'd say the new culture is more shitting on anything unless you've won the ring to be fair.... it's tedious and boring, and definitely forced loyalty out of the game a fair bit. But at least we're coming full circle again and getting a good depth of teams that aren't far from being somewhat evenly matched.
No player would choose a ballon dor over a cl win, that’s the point
I personally and baselessly think that's not true at all.
That's not the point. Obviously a championship is more important than an MVP and I've already said that. However, that does not make MVPs "irrelevant'.
False. It's an award for the regular season. Like the NFL MVP is an award for the NFL regular season. I don't know know what's complicated about this. I'm sure most people who win MVPs are very grateful for the award, even if it's not their main goal.
It is not complicated, it is pointless. Regular season in NBA almost does not matter. 1 play in team made it to conference finals, another made it to NBA finals. NFL is a different sport and there are no bases to compare NFL regular season to NBA regular season. NFL regular season actually matters.
Complete nonsense. Saying the NBA MVP is pointless is just an asinine view.
Yeah, that really is crazy. Unfortunately, since that last Heat title the regular season has become a stat padding exercise for a lot of players and peaked with the Westbrook and Harden MVP wins.
This doesn't damper the MVP though.... it dampens the importance of the regular season for teams, not the individual. At least unlike the NHL, they don't absurdly give out awards for the best conference record, and you know why? Because it's pointless. Especially nowadays in the post 73-9 didn't actually mean anything world. But Steph was still the clear MVP of that season, and was absolutely legendary in it...
What do you mean by that? The NHL has the Prince of Wales, Clarence campbell and Presidents' trophies.
I asked because I wasn't sure. Which is why I put both conference trophies and also the league trophy celebrating the team with the best regular season record.
Advanced metrics tell more of a story than random scoring sprees
The Lakers team that "bereft of talent" consisted of a better supporting cast than Jordan's late 80s Bulls (just an example) and he had no problems making the playoffs, and played much better in both the regular season and playoffs.Yeah I wonder whether he meant something else. Obviously the MVP isn't pointless. Lots of all time players ahev placed and continue to place importance when it comes to the MVP. Russell used to bring up his MVPs when asked about the Wilt comparisons during their playing days. Kareem used to take pride in them.
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agree they’re not irrelevant. Lots of championships winning teams have mvp winners in them
Yes, and I wouldn't quibble with that at all
AG has been a great defender since college and that was arguably his best skill coming into the league.Was raving a bit about Gordon defense already, but run into some other stats even before playoffs which were a sign of things to come. Thought it might interest some.
Didn't know about this and I was dead wrong in thinking that the Nuggets will struggle to stop Jimmy. Tbf part of that is because LeBron, when he did have energy, went through Gordon as his primary defender much more easier. In the end, this is in some way praise to LeBron as well because he was the only one with whom Gordon struggled a bit defensively through these playoffs. And he still managed (with help from Murray) to get that final stop on LeBron in game 4 to win the series.
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He forced 9 turnovers from KAT and 12 from Durant as well (again just 1 from LeBron)
Can't find numbers for the finals when Gordon was primary defender against Jimmy, but am pretty certain they ain't good. Jimmy's overall numbers were 21.6 points, 6.4 assists and 4.6 rebounds on 41% shooting (his stats before the finals were something like 28/7/6). Of course, it's not only Gordon who did his job defensively, but Butler clearly tried to get a switch as much as he could when Gordon was guarding him.
What did even the Nuggets give to get Gordon from Orlando? Harris, Hampton and 2025 protected first pick. Great trade looking back and just what this team needed.
True, true.. as I say, I was somewhat fooled with the way LeBron managed to go through him at times going into these finals. Looking through the whole playoffs, just brilliant defensive numbers which I thought was worth showing.
The owners do not seem fully invested in this instalment yet? Things will change once Brown is given the supermax, in case: with all the money at stake, they toughen up and focus on their strengths or trades will happen.
