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NBA Awards Watch: LeBron James Rising

By Brad Rowland

Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) slams dunks during the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) slams dunks during the second quarter against the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) leads a fast break against the Indiana Pacers in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) leads a fast break against the Indiana Pacers in the first quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Most Valuable Player

  1. Anthony Davis, PF New Orleans Pelicans – Some pundits are beginning to hold his lack of team success against him, but Anthony Davis continues to be the best player in the league through the first segment of the year. New Orleans is just 7-8 at the time of this post, but injuries have decimated the Pelicans on the perimeter, and Davis has done yeoman’s work to keep the team afloat. The 21-year-old leads the NBA in PER (33.39) by a wide margin, and he isn’t only a darling of advanced stats, as Davis is third in scoring (24.9 points per game), sixth in rebounding (11.3 rebounds per game) and first in blocked shots (3.00 per game). It is fair to think he has no chance to win the award on a team with a .500 record or worse, but Davis has been insanely fun.
  2. Stephen Curry, PG Golden State Warriors – Curry’s shooting is on another level from the rest of the planet, and as the best player on the best team in the league (by net rating, at least), he has an inside track on the award. For the year, Curry is making 41.8% of his three-pointers on an amazing 7.6 attempts per game, but more than that, he is an established all-court player at this point, averaging 7.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game with improving defense. Golden State will need to win 60-plus games for Stephen Curry to have a real chance, but they are on pace to do just that.
  3. LeBron James, SF Cleveland Cavaliers – Welcome back, LeBron James. He was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week in leading Cleveland to three straight wins, and his “groove” appears to be returning. The 29-year-old superstar is averaging 24.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game this season, and while that is actually a regression from his established norm (which is insane), those numbers are firmly worthy of MVP talk. It will undoubtedly help his candidacy if the Cavs can begin to gel as a unit, but LeBron James is always a threat to run away with the MVP award, and as Cleveland puts it together, the buzz will begin to build. It is fair to say that James hasn’t looked the part to this point, but I would be surprised if that didn’t change in a relative hurry.

Next: What are the 25 greatest individual seasons in NBA history?

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