Lebron Archives

The King Stands Alone In His Court

The Big Three (From left to right: Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and Lebron James) were meant to be dominate for years to come

In today’s world of basketball a superstar cannot take his team to the Finals, or even deep into the playoffs for that matter, anymore. No longer will we see superstars like Allen Iverson take a cap strapped and D-League talent team into the Finals. In today’s basketball world it takes two superstars and one star to carry a team into the playoffs, that is what we know as “The Big Three”. The Spurs have Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobli and we’ve seen the Celtics have their own in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. None though were ever as feared than Miami’s Big Three in superstars Dwayne Wade and Lebron James coupled with the star power in Chris Bosh. Around those core three a full team was built and made to win, no not just win, but to dominate the National Basketball League for years to come. Why then are the Miami Heat one game away from elimination? One game away from throwing away a season where the Miami Heat earned 66 wins and an almost record breaking 27 game win streak; One game away from what was suppose to be years of dominance being thrown away.

Rather the less famous of the Miami’s Big Three is Power Forward Chris Bosh

While Chris Bosh is not a superstar, he is easily the most important role player on the Miami Heat. His first two seasons in Miami he’s averaged around 18 PPG and around 8 RPG. In this series with Indiana though he’s come up small, so small he might as be invisible. His numbers suggest he’s in a slump (11.3 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and shooting 41.1%) and he’s even admitted he’s just not feeling his normal self. Granted Bosh is battling an ankle “injury” it can’t be that serious seeing how he has started all the games in the playoffs and only against Indiana has he really fallen off.

The Heat use to be Dwayne Wade’s team before Lebron

Oh the once athletic and high flying Dwayne Wade has started to show the wear and tear of playing basketball the way he does. We all knew Wade was hurting with his chronic knee problems but we never knew the extent of it until this series. His play vs Indiana has shown him miss open shots, easy lay ups, and just not the superstar caliber play we’ve seen Wade play with his entire career; he’s averaging only 14.0 points per game, a post season career low for him. Dwayne has been quoted by saying that the Heat cannot win with Lebron James playing hero ball and that James needs to trust the team and play the way the Heat did to win their last title.

The King is poised to either rise above the rest or watch the “Big Three” era crumble

Tonight all eye’s will be on Wade, James, and Bosh. Will we see a resurgence in Dwayne Wade’s ability to play like he use to? Will we see Bosh become that perfect complimentary piece to James and Wade? If those two continue to hide in the shadows when the spot light is on them, we can all safely say that the era of Miami’s “Big Three” is over and that King James now stands alone in his court.

And The MVP Is..

Lebron is poised to win his 4th MVP Award

The Maurice Podoloff Trophy is given to the Most Valuable Player each year in the entire NBA. This year the clear favorite to win his fourth MVP award if Miami Heat Forward Lebron James. I will not sit here and say Lebron James is not an amazing basketball player, but I do not believe he deserves the award this year. Yes, he led the Miami Heat to a franchise record 27 win streak, yes he is the most dominant player right now, and yes he is a full-fledged superstar, but he is on a team built to achieve above and beyond the known limits. He is a very important corner-stone to the team, but not the most valuable player in the league.

2008 NBA MVP Kobe Bryant

No matter what arena you see him play, no matter what team he is playing against, Kobe Bryant will always hear “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants. Oddly enough Kobe has only won one NBA MVP award back in 2008. This year he easily deserves to be a front-runner in the MVP conversation. The horribly underachieving Lakers have been willed on by Kobe alone and even though he is now out with a season ending Achilles tear, he has gotten them into the 8th seed of the playoffs.

Clippers Guard Chris Paul

Chris Paul (a.k.a CP3) has made the Clippers the team in Los-Angeles now and for years to come. He will become the corner-stone of the new dominant west coast force that are the Clippers. Chris Paul is long due for a MVP award and after watching him this year lead the Clippers to their first division title in decades, hitting the 50 win mark for the first time since 1976, and taking the Clippers on a dominant and undefeated month of December.

New York Knick Forward Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Anthony is poised to win his first NBA Scoring Title after this season just nudging out Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant. Over the month of April Carmelo has averaged nearly 29 points per game and lead his Knicks on a 13 game win streak that ended in Chicago. Anthony has always been an elite scorer but this season in New York he is proving to be a real MVP candidate. Over this season the Knicks were written off as “too old” but they have secured a second placed seed in the Eastern Conference and will match up against Boston in the first round (a real good game by the way). While Carmelo’s stats are no where as nice as James or other players, his Knicks are only 6-7 without him. I would easily give him the MVP Award this year since Melo is long overdue and has clearly proven his worth.

Spurs Guard Tony Parker

Ah, Tony Parker, he was once the “dark horse” MVP candidate throughout this season. In 65 games this season, Parked has averaged 20.4 points, 7.6 assists, while shooting 52.4%, and 35.3% from beyond the arc. He has once again lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 58-23 record while securing the second place seed in the Western Conference. Earlier this season some people would’ve penciled in Parker as the favorite to win the MVP as he was and the Spurs were just on a roll. Sadly in the month of April he has dropped off due to injuries and has only played four games. No matter what though, Tony Parker is still the dark horse candidate to win MVP.

Once again, I am not putting down Lebron James and his amazing talent and ability to play the game of basketball. He is the most dominant force in basketball right now and will be for a couple more years. James though, does not deserve another MVP award as he is clearly not the most valuable player for the team compared to others. Sadly though, a fourth trophy is inevitable.