NBA Finals 2017: Power ranking Finals MVP possibilities
By Luke Norris
LeBron James
2017 NBA Playoffs: 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists
I’m sure there are many of you out there (with good reason) thinking that since LeBron James is at the top of this list, I think that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to win the NBA title. But you’d be wrong. The truth is that I have no idea how this series is going to end and I think that’s a good thing. What I do know is that there isn’t a better basketball player in the world than LeBron James and that’s why he sits atop these rankings.
For one, he’s the reigning NBA Finals MVP and while I’m aware that the voters aren’t keen on the idea of giving the trophy to someone on the losing team — as I mentioned, it’s only happened once — I still think he should have won it if the Cavs had lost last year. I mean, look what he did in the Finals last year. He averaged 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists and put up a triple-double in Game 7 to bring a championship to Cleveland. Sports stories don’t get much better than that.
And let’s certainly not to forget to mention how he’s playing in this year’s postseason. The inexplicable Game 4 performance in the Eastern Conference series aside, LeBron might be playing the best basketball of his entire career. He’s scored 30 or more points in 11 of the 13 postseason games the Cavs have played thus far and looks more comfortable with his outside shot than ever before. He’s shooting 56.6 percent from the floor, which sometimes isn’t shocking given his ability to attack the basket, but he’s shooting 42.1 percent from the 3-point line, which is nearly eight points higher than his career average of 34.2 percent.
With Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love shooting the way they are, LeBron is going to have options when he drives the lane and even as good as Draymond Green and Kevin Durant are on the defensive end, I don’t know if even either one of them can stop him right now. His stat line is going to be crazy once again and win or lose, there’s a strong chance that LeBron James wins his fourth NBA Finals MVP trophy.
Next: 2017 NBA Finals: 5 reasons the Warriors can find redemption
Who do you think will take home the NBA Finals MVP trophy? Feel free to join in the conversation below in the comments section and be sure to check back in with FanSided each and every day for our continuing coverage of the 2017 NBA Finals.