Two things to point out here:
1) I've been a regular reader of Bill Simmons for the past three years, roughly, but lately (past six months or so?) I really haven't read or heard anything from him that a) was particularly entertaining or b) wasn't pretty predictable (loyal Sports Guy readers probably know what I mean);
2) Before I reveal the rest of my picks in our regular season NBA awards post (coming soon!), here's my MVP pick: LeBron James. Big surprise. And guess what - I bet our other three resident NBA experts here picked LeBron, as did probably about 97% of all the NBA writers and experts out there. So anything I could say about LeBron's season would have been written already like 58 times, and then what would I really have contributed to society?
Well, in reading the Sports Guy's annual NBA MVP rankings, I found exactly what I would have wanted to write about LeBron as MVP, if I was actually a good writer, and simultaneously was reminded why I'm such a Bill Simmons fan. This is the truest and yet the most original justification for picking LeBron as MVP this year. Here it is:
Not since Magic Johnson has a superstar doubled as such a galvanizing teammate. If there's an enduring image of the '08-09 season, it's the way LeBron stamped his personality on everyone around him. They orchestrate goofy pregame intros (my favorite: the team snapshot), trade countless chest bumps, giggle on the sidelines, hang out on road trips and support each other in every way. What's telling about LeBron's in-traffic dunks -- and he unleashes them more frequently than anyone since Dominique -- is how he seeks out his bench for feedback, and even better, how they give it to him. It makes the forced camaraderie of the Lakers seem glaring. [maz-hatter note: See 1:35 to 2:30 of that last video for illustration of Lakers fraudulence; also, the rest is hilariously amateur.] If you want to watch a team that pulls for each other and follows the lead of its best player, watch Cleveland.
No comments:
Post a Comment