We don't appreciate LeBron James

It’s actually hard to know where to start in responding to this given how divergent from fact or logic it is? “By individual statistics Steph didn’t do anything better than Lebron in 14/15 other than shoot at a higher percentage. He scored less, rebounded less (understandable as he’s a guard) and their assist rate was the same” Well if you narrow individual statistics down to 1980s per game counting stats that even small children who think you’ve literally got their nose are are suspicious of sure? Except he did also have better steals and turn over numbers. If you played Roto with their stat lines Bron gets Points, Boards Blocks and Curry wins 6-3 as he sweeps in on the other categories. So no that line of thinking doesn’t get Bron the nod. Even then using “per game” rather than whole season for a season long MVP is pretty flawed logic So curry then overtakes him on points. Think that’s unfair how about per minute numbers rather than game- oh curry gets goods on points as well there. But here are some other individual stats where Curry topped Bron, PER, win shares, +/-, rela +/-, win shares per 48, offensive win shares, defensive win shares, “and their assist rate was the same (which is not understandable as Curry’s assist rate is fairly poor for a guy who handles the ball so much).” Fairly poor for a guy that handles the ball so much? He was top 10 in the league How is that “fairly poor” isn’t Bron’s poorer given he handled the ball more? “If you swapped two candidates into each other’s team what might be the result?” This argument is always a ridiculous one as players don’t play exact the same style but I’ll humour you because it still falls down. They actually have some stats that try to do the “waht happens when he does or doesn’t play” it is called +/- and curry’s was better, oh they also have one that takes into account team mates etc on ESPN called real +/-, Curry’s was better than Bron again. So sorry no that doesn’t compare favourably “If you took the candidate away from his team how might they have fared? We know this with Cleveland – they suck without Lebron” Wait a minute are you really arguing that because LeBron had a sabbatical and played LESS of the season he was more valuable over its entire 82 games? I thought your argument that 2%% is basically the same as 60% was pretty flawed but this is a new frontier in the suspension of logic. I do love how you ask us to compare seasons and then go with “my own personal MVP cireteria” which basically make it impossible to compare seasons. “harden.... Westbrook” I’m also not sure what Harden and Westbrook have to do with LeBron having a better season than Curry like you asserted. I’ve been searching for some line of thought where there is a link, other than a stock standard attempt to misdirect readers from your incredibly flawed premise, but I can’t fid one. Yes Harden was deserving candidate and there was a lot of debate around that at the time. Yes Westbrook should have gotten more consideration. But James. Um no.

Bird

Was definitely talking 14/15. Aside from the Warriors winning 67 games was Steph actually all that much more valuable to his team? My own personal valuation of MVP candidates has two criteria as follows: If you took the candidate away from his team how might they have fared? We know this with Cleveland - they suck without Lebron. If you swapped two candidates into each other's team what might be the result? Swapping Lebron into the Warriors lineup for Steph is a scary thought. Not so much with the Cavs in reverse. By individual statistics Steph didn't do anything better than Lebron in 14/15 other than shoot at a higher percentage. He scored less, rebounded less (understandable as he's a guard) and their assist rate was the same (which is not understandable as Curry's assist rate is fairly poor for a guy who handles the ball so much). The 2014/15 MVP award was as much a recognition of the Warriors' achievements as much as Steph Curry. I could argue an even better case for James Harden in 14/15 and he was terribly unlucky not to have the trophy. I have no problem with Curry winning 15/16 - he was outstanding but even then when you review the season you look at Russell Westbrook and realise the guy almost averaged a triple double and virtually no one talks about it.

Really. If the MVP is for the individual, and it is deserved by the best player on the best team doesn't that mean teams are kind of irrelevant as one player is effectively responsible for team success? This is how we get Derrick Rose as MVP. That aside curry had better Per, real +/-, true shooting %, box plus minus at both ends of the court and win shares. That's before factoring in he played more games than LeBron and that Bron was visibility slacking on D (particularly early in the year.) LeBron barely cracked the top in the league in some of those marks. LeBron was great down the back end of the season but it isn't the MVP for a selection of games. If LeBron had have won that year it would have been due to voter apathy and not bothering to see if he had played like LeBron of previous seasons. This is confirming my fears that people are now trying to make up for their under rating of LeBron with some selective analysis. It's like a reverse Kobe.

Okay it's just he says "if you compare curry's first MVP with LeBron season it's hard to argue that Steph was better"

Are we talking comparing their 14/15 seasons or LeBron's first MVP? Because if it is the 14/15 season it is incredibly hard to build a LeBron case.

He only played 17 minutes a game where the warriors got outscored not sure more minutes would have been the recipe for success.

The people who don't appreciate how good Lebron is are just haters or just stupid.Maybe both. I don't get into the "best of all time" garbage in any sport because its hard to compare eras. But as far as this era goes (2000-2016) he is right up there,probably the best player in that time frame although Duncan & Kobe are in the argument as well. I'm not even a Lebron fan necessarily but there's no doubt that since about 2009 onwards he has been the best player in the NBA. His performance in the 2015 NBA Finals to me was just unbelievable,even though Cleveland lost.I know this season gets more attention because they won but what he did last year with not a lot around him was amazing. I have friends who are Warriors fans/season ticket holders.Even they had no qualms admitting Lebron was the MVP in 2015. He should have been awarded that even though his team lost.

I appreciate Lebron. Have done for years. He, like Jordan, should have won many more MVP's - voter fatigue is the term and it hurts history. If you compare Curry's first MVP with Lebron's season it's hard to argue Steph was better. I was also a Lebron hater for the South Beach debacle. However it never clouded my judgement as to just how great a ball player he is. Diego Maradona is an awful human but it doesn't undermine anyone's view that the guy was one of the greatest footballers ever. I'm not sure how it became that people lost the ability to see how great he is because of his error in judgement re: leaving Cleveland. Not sure what that has to do with rating his bball skills. Anyway I think that June made all that past history and James is well and truly getting the respect he has long deserved as a basketball legend.

Little known story GSW were undefeated when Green and Bogut played and hence they were assured victory. Oh wait that didn’t happen. The warriors went 3-3 with Green available against the Cavs and it’s laughable to say we “know” that they win that game with Green given it wasn’t like they lost by 1 point on a missed rotation on the final play. If green outright guarantees that you will be at least 15 points a better team even on his worst game then I’ll champion him as the greatest sportsman of all time as he would be literally peerless in that regard. The bogut influence is likewise pretty comical given the guy averaged 17 minutes a game for the play offs and had a negative +/- in the series.