NBA: 2014-15 preseason MVP candidates

Jan 29, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) is pressured by Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Can anyone steal the NBA MVP award away from LeBron James and Kevin Durant?

One could argue the race for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award is a two-man race, Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James.

While I understand that perspective, the NBA has a few other players who might be ready to jump into that MVP conversation this season.

Right now, there are about five guys who have a chance to win the MVP.

Realistically, it’s Durant and James and then everybody else in the league. While they’re in their prime, the MVP should be Durant or James every season, but it starts to get complicated when we start to dissect what “value” means in the context of the “Most Valuable Player.”

In my time following the NBA, I’m convinced no one actually knows what the MVP actually means.

To me, the MVP should be given to the best player in the league, relative to the the team’s success. Obviously, that argument has some problems with it. More often than not, the best players in the game are able to vault their team at least into the playoffs, but I don’t think the MVP necessarily has to be on a team that wins 55-plus games every season, like it has been lately.

The ‘What determines the MVP?’ conversation is definitely for another time. You start talking about the qualities the MVP should have and the next thing you know you’re sixteen levels deep in an MVP inception, and you don’t remember where you even started or what real life is, right David?

Before that happens to me, let’s get into the MVP race: preseason edition.