Lebron James is the best (and most valuable) basketball player on the planet, and the general public was reminded of this on Sunday when he was voted as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2012-2013 season.
In a nearly-unanimous vote, James triumphed over Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Kobe Bryant for the honor. It is the 4th MVP of his career, and he became the youngest player (at age 28) to win 4 such awards.
Out of the 121 possible first-place votes, 120 of them went to Lebron, with the 1 outlier being cast for Carmelo Anthony by a still unnamed member of the media. Frankly, this vote screams “look at me”, as there isn’t a single statistical measure that places Carmelo Anthony as a better player than Lebron James (before you give me points per game, I’d urge you to check the efficiency numbers), and it will be wildly intriguing to see which person authored the stray vote.
Lebron James averaged a staggering line of 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game, but the insanity of his overall numbers stems from a 56.5% field goal percentage and a mind-blowing player efficiency rating (PER) of 31.67, which trumped the competition (2nd-best being Kevin Durant at 28.35) in a big way. It was the best statistical season of James’ career, and his PER and EWA (estimated wins added) numbers rival the greatest seasons in NBA history.
While the unanimous vote fell short for LBJ, the award landed in the right place, and if James continues to play at his current pace, the Miami Heat will be nearly impossible to beat as they march toward the NBA Finals.