Empty the Bench

Many superlatives have been used to describe the basketball talents of LeBron James; it is not my intent here to try and add any new ones to the list, or to recycle those which have been already been said.

I’m not particularly interested in pontifications about who the best player in the NBA is and why, be it LeBron, or Kobe, or Chris Paul, or Dwyane Wade, or somebody else. That’s not to say such discussions are moot (though oftentimes they are), just that at some point even a wound-up dog tires of chasing his tail and decides to give it a rest.

And while many reasonable, well-informed attempts have been made to define the criteria which does, or at least should, guide the annual anointment of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award, in the end it’s a circular argument. Is it the league’s best player on the best team? The league’s best all-around stat-stuffer? The player most responsible for turning a dregg into a contender?

Who knows.

What I do know is this: LeBron James, the 24-year-old phenom who revolutionized the NBA before he had even formally joined it, will shortly be named the NBA’s 2009 MVP. It will be the first time he’s recognized with this honor, and it most certainly will not be the last time. He’s earned it and he deserves it.

Last week my esteemed colleague here at ETB welcomed Dwyane Wade to the MVP race; I concur with his sentiments and very much appreciate what Wade has accomplished in what has turned out to be a remarkable comeback season for the Miami Heat star.

Kobe Bryant has been, well, he’s been Kobe Bryant in leading the Lakers to yet another Pacific Division title and a likely top seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. And while the game’s best point guard, Chris Paul, has again posted gaudy stats and been the driving force behind the overachieving Hornets’ march into the postseason, he will have to settle for being this year’s fantasy hoops MVP, not the NBA’s.

With the whiff of playoffs now in the air, LeBron James has somehow further elevated his game and in the process vaulted himself far above these other worthy candidates. Friday night in Sacramento, his 51 points led his Cavaliers to an overtime win and a clinching of the franchise’s first Central Division title in 33 years. This effort capped a ridiculous stretch that saw him log three consecutive triple-doubles, the longest such streak since Michael Jordan did it 20 years ago. Through nine games in March, James has averaged 29.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 2.3 three-pointers, 1.8 steals, 1.7 blocks and 11 FT attempts per.

The numbers speak for themselves, and so does the Cavaliers’ 53-13 record.

If the rest of the NBA thought James was a tough bear to tame in past postseasons, just wait until this year’s battles roll around. I question whether any team–be it the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs, whoever–will prove capable of knocking off the Cavaliers in a seven-game series, especially if the Cavs have home-court advantage throughout. The glint in James’ eyes has been different this year; he knows this is the best supporting cast he’s ever had, and that this is the best he’s performed individually… so far.

But this isn’t as much about what LeBron James will accomplish in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, so I digress. Here at Empty the Bench it’s not a habit to regularly fawn over hyped-up superstars who have more press than pages in the Bible. We’re hardly above recognizing greatness, however, and what LeBron James has done this season for the Cleveland Cavaliers amounts to just that: greatness. Whether his efforts will be rewarded with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June remains to be seen, but at a minimum, he will be the 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player.

Related Reading:
- Welcome to the MVP Race, Dwyane Wade
- Dirk Nowitzki, 2007 NBA MVP… Anybody Out There Remember Him?
- Wheeling and Dealing With Donnie Walsh