It might not seem like it, but the midway point of the NBA season has already come and gone.
With just 40 or so games to go before the league’s much more glamorous second season tips off, it’s time to look back at the first half of the year and pick the early MVP.
Let’s not kid around here, it’s a two man race and nothing more than that.
Kevin Durant has been absolutely unstoppable in every sense of the word (more on that later) and Lebron has been, well Lebron.
If the season ended tomorrow, who would you pick?
I’ve got KD, and here’s why:
The Westbrook situation
After losing James Harden and then Kevin Martin over recent seasons, it started to look like the depth of Oklahoma City was beginning to become a minor issue.
After Russell Westbrook went down with another injury, we all got a little concerned.
Durant’s performance since Westbrook went out has been nothing short of spectacular.
KD is leading the league at over 31 points per game, but throughout the last 11 he is hitting at over 38 PPG.
He’s proving to be unguardable from everywhere on the court.
The league hasn’t seen a scoring spree quite like this for some time – the run is so good even Lebron is using KD’s scoring rampage for his own motivation.
Throw in a triple-double against the 76ers during this stretch as well as career high totals in assists for good measure and we are seeing Durant evolve into more and more of a leader in front of our very eyes this year.
Furthermore, just as he gets better at passing, he also is figuring out when he needs to be assertive and take over games.
Positioning the Thunder at the top of the extremely competitive Western Conference is nothing to balk at.
If the Thunder can keep homecourt throughout the playoffs, it could be the jolt they need to finally get over the hump and win a championship but that all depends on how far Kevin Durant carries them.
Lebron is making it look easy
Lebron James is having another typical Lebron season, and his numbers are probably MVP-worthy again.
Like Durant, he might be getting even better – which is just frightening.
At 29, King James is shooting just a notch under 60%, a stat almost unheard of for someone playing his position.
With Dwayne Wade clearly showing his age this year, Lebron and Chris Bosh have both been forced to do more on both ends of the court to keep Miami in competition for the #1 seed in the God-awful Eastern Conference.
He’s having yet another statistically great season, but if things keep going as they are, Durant deserves the MVP this year for doing what he’s done with a much weaker team.
Sure, KD hasn’t won any hardware (yet) worth mentioning and an MVP award would be pretty empty for him until he brings a championship home to Oklahoma, but there is no one more valuable to his team right now.
If Lebron wants to win the MVP award for the third time in a row, he will have to go on a spree like Durant, or lead Miami on a huge winning streak much like last season.
The second half of the season is shaping up wonderfully, and it should be great to see if Lebron has a rebuttal for Durant’s masterful work so far.
Regardless of what happens, as basketball fans, we are privileged to get to watch two players of this calibre in the league at the same time.
This is a rivalry that will keep getting better – enjoy it while you can, because it might not get much better than this.
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