NBA Finals: 5 reasons LeBron James wins Finals MVP
By John Buhler
5. James could have won it last year.
In last year’s NBA Finals, with these same two teams pitted against each other, it was Golden State’s sixth man Andre Iguodala who went on to win 2015 NBA Finals MVP. Iguodala did a great job guarding James in the NBA Finals and came off the Golden State bench to clobber a depleted Cleveland team.
While Iguodala’s Finals MVP was well-deserved, as he averaged 16.3 points per game, 5.8 rebounds per game, and 4.0 assists per game in an expanded rotational role, James was everything for the Cavaliers in their quest to win the 2015 NBA Finals.
James nearly averaged a triple-double for a Cavaliers team that didn’t have two of its best three players available in the Finals in point guard Kyrie Irving and power forward Kevin Love. In six games in the 2015 NBA Finals, James averaged 35.8 points per game, 13.3 rebounds per game, and 8.8 assists per game, leading all players on both teams.
Cleveland had no business making it a competitive series in 2015 having to deal with so many tough injuries to key players, yet James found a way to keep this best-of-seven at least interesting. Last NBA Finals, James did garner some votes for Finals MVP in defeat, but most voting on the award weren’t ready to give the honor to a Finals loser.
With James being the best player on either team again in the 2016 NBA Finals, it would be outlandish to not see him win the 2016 Finals MVP even if Cleveland drops deciding Game 7 on the road in Oakland.
Next: 4. The Draymond Green suspension in Game 5.