Most Valuable LeBron

    LeBron James is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in NBA history, and he has four MVP awards to prove it. Earlier this month, after Stephen Curry was named the first unanimous MVP in NBA history (Curry's second straight MVP award), LeBron got a lot of grief regarding his comments about the status of the award. The problem is: He's exactly right.

James, a 4x MVP, averaged 25 points, 7 rebounds
and 7 assists this season

    Every league likes to have a villain, and somehow, LeBron is viewed as the villain of the NBA. People love to hate LeBron. But in this case, let's give him a break. His comments were that the term "Most Valuable Player" needs to be re-evaluated. It came across to the public like LeBron James was being petty about coming in 3rd in the MVP voting, behind Curry and the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard. In James's defense, he did say that Stephen Curry was deserving and even cited his stats and said that there was no question who the best player was this year.

    There's the problem. The award is not called "Best Player", it's called the "Most Valuable Player". If you look at those two titles at face value, there's an obvious difference. Curry was definitely the best player in the NBA this year, averaging 30 points, leading the league in steals, and becoming the first player in NBA history to make 400 3-pointers in a season (shattering his own NBA record by over 100), but he was not the most valuable.



Harper: 1st MVP voting- Nationals (83-79)
Goldschmidt 2nd- Diamondbacks (79-83)
Votto 3rd- Reds (64-98)

   Anyone who has heard my podcast, Empire Sports Talk, knows that I had a similar gripe about this same thing at the end of baseball season. The Most Valuable Player award is given to the best player in the league for a given year. However, the title is misleading. The league's best player should be rewarded, but under a title that is just that, best player. Most Valuable Player paints a picture of the league's most irreplaceable player, the person whose team would be nothing without them, or at least that's how it should be defined. Last year in the MLB, as was the subject of the podcast in question, titled "V is for Valuable", Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals won the National League MVP award. He was the best player, numbers-wise, but he, along with the other two candidates for the award, Paul Goldschmidt of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds, were on teams that missed the playoffs.
    Now, let me pose this question for perspective: How "valuable" were these players to their teams if, even with them and their numbers, they still didn't make the playoffs-and in the case of Goldschmidt and Votto, they weren't even close?

    I'm not so naïve as to believe that these guys could make these teams good by themselves, because it's baseball and baseball is heavily a team sport, but still. Sticking with baseball, in the American League, Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson took home the MVP award. In this case, the Blue Jays did make the playoffs and without Donaldson's numbers, they probably wouldn't have. THAT is the definition of valuable. There IS a difference between Most Valuable and Best.



Leonard: Back-to-back
Defensive Player of the year (2015-16)

    So, back to LeBron. Given the example above, LeBron James probably was the Most Valuable Player this year. Why? Kwahi Leonard may be the best player on his otherwise aging team, and let it be said that I'm not ignoring the fact that he did win Defensive Player of the Year...again, but as of right now, he's not even the leader of his team. Until he retires, the Spurs are still Tim Duncan's team. Would the Spurs have made the playoffs without Kwahi? Probably, given that they finished with a 67-15 record, second only to the record breaking Warriors, and were 26 games clear of missing the playoffs. In the past two years since LeBron has been in Cleveland, the Cavs record in games that LeBron doesn't play in is 4-13. Even with the talent of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the LeBron-less Cavs have a win percentage of .235. That means, if they played an entire season without LeBron, their win total would be right around 19. A record of 19-63. The Cavs would be much closer to the first pick in the draft than raising a banner. Now, that record is a stretch because the team would take the necessary measures if they knew they would be without LeBron, but here's another fact. The Cavs did go from playoffs to first pick once already...when LeBron left for Miami. The following season, the Cavs had the league's worst record and drafted Kyrie Irving with the first pick.

    Would the current Warriors team go from first to worst with Stephen Curry? Absolutely not. During the regular season, Curry sat out the entire 4th quarter 18 times (4.5 games total) and the Warriors still finished with the best record in NBA history. With Stephen Curry missing a handful of games in the playoffs due to injury, the Warriors still moved on to the Conference Finals without so much as a hitch, losing only one game in their first two series, series in which Curry did not play a large portion of the games. The Warriors are fine without him.

Curry: First unanimous MVP in NBA history

    I, like LeBron am not taking anything away from Curry or Leonard. They are fantastic players who are deserving the awards they receive. I don't even think LeBron was necessarily going to bat for himself, like it's being portrayed. As an ambassador of the NBA, he sees a flaw. The Most Valuable Player award is misleading. There is a difference between the most valuable player and the best player, and all of our major American sports leagues are guilty of not making the distinction. If you would like to keep the award of Most Valuable Player, judge it the way you may judge Most Improved Player, or Sixth Man of the Year, because that's the kind of award in would be. Give the current MVP Award a new title. A more accurate title worthy of its stature: the Best Player Award or the Michael Jordan Award (similar to how the Hank Aaron Award goes to baseball's best hitter).

    A mix-up like this is an honest mistake and we shouldn't blame LeBron James or call him a sore loser just for pointing it out. LeBron is EXACTLY right in his comments. The MVP award needs a new name, and congratulations to Stephen Curry for being the NBA's Best Player in 2016.

2015 MLB Award Predictions

    It's October!!! We all know what that means. With only about one week to go in the MLB season, it's about time for the end of the season awards to be handed out. Here are my predictions for the big awards in Major League Baseball in 2015.

American League
Most Valuable Player-Josh Donaldson (Toronto Blue Jays)

    In my opinion, this is the one major award race that is not close. Donaldson is the obvious choice for MVP. He has been hot from the word go and has led the charge as the Blue Jays have surged past the Yankees into first place in the AL East and likely into the postseason for the first time since 1993. Donaldson has a .300 batting average (10th), 41 home runs (3rd), and 123 RBIs (1st) (top 10 in all three categories in the American League. One point for Donaldson is that he is the unquestioned offensive leader of the best team in the major leagues right now. His teammates, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are also in the top five in RBIs in the American League, proving that this team is a force to be reckoned with. As I said, if it were up to me, Josh Donaldson is the American League MVP, no contest.

Cy Young Award-Dallas Keuchel (Houston Astros)

Keuchel is 15-0 at home this season

    This is a closer race, but it didn't get all that close until recently. Some might give the award to Toronto's David Price, since he has been nearly untouchable since coming to Toronto in early August, but Keuchel has had Cy Young stuff since Opening Day. Keuchel is 19-8 with a 2.47 ERA and 213 strikeouts this season. He holds the American League lead in wins, 2nd in the AL in ERA and 6th in strikeouts. The kicker is that he has literally been unbeatable at home. He is 15-0 in 18 home starts with a 1.46 ERA at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Opponents have a batting average of .186 against Keuchel at home. You have to be able to win at home, and Keuchel doesn't lose. David Price is the best pitcher on the best team-a team that could probably make the postseason without him. The Astros have literally pitched their way into the postseason and Keuchel is leading the way.

Rookie of the Year- Carlos Correa (Houston Astros)
    Even if your pitching staff is mostly responsible for your team's success, you can't win if you can't score. Even the best pitching staff needs an offense, and that's what Carlos Correa gives to Houston. Billed as the shortstop of the future before he even laced up in the big leagues, Correa has lived up to the hype. Correa has a .277 average with 21 home runs and 63 RBIs in his first 96 big league games. These are big numbers from Correa, especially since he plays shortstop, a position not usually known for big numbers like that. Despite these, Correa's real impact however, comes from his defense. He is proving to already be one of the best defensive shortstops in the league. He has a .968 fielding percentage and seems to make the highlight reel every night. All of these reasons are why I believe Carlos Correa will be the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year.

Manager of the Year-A.J. Hinch (Houston Astros)
    Houston almost comes away with a clean sweep of these awards as I am sending the AL Manager of the Year award to the Lonestar State as well. After a 70-92 season a year ago under Bo Porter, the Houston Astros hired Hinch as manager, made some moves, and are now holding on to a playoff spot with 3 games to go. Their 84-75 record is already a huge turnaround and the season isn't even over yet. The biggest difference is that a year ago, Houston had a run differential of -94 and this year, their run differential is +93. That is 187-run turnaround from season to season. That can be attributed to much better hitting, and a lights out pitching staff.


National League
Most Valuable Player-Bryce Harper (Washington Nationals)

Harper is in the top 10 in all offensive categories

    This is an award that is hard for me to give to Harper, because the Nationals are not going to the playoffs. I think that a real sign of an MVP is that you can lead your team to the playoffs, which Harper did not do. Also, he recently got into a dugout altercation with teammate Jonathon Papelbon, and causing clubhouse friction is the opposite of  what an MVP should do. But the fact of the matter is that there have been candidates surface for the award throughout the year, but Harper was the only one to sustain his success throughout the year. At the start of the season, both Chicago's Anthony Rizzo and the Dodgers' Adrian Gonzalez had hot starts, but have since cooled off a bit. Colorado Rockies third baseman has put up monster numbers, but for a mediocre team. Lastly, the Mets' Daniel Murphy has led his team to an NL East title, but his numbers simply aren't big enough to outweigh some of the other candidates. Therefore, by default, the MVP goes too Bryce Harper. Harper's numbers at face value are certainly great. He is tied for the league lead in home runs (41) and batting average (.331). He is tied for 5th in runs batted in (96) and in the top ten in hits. By individual numbers alone, Bryce Harper has earned MVP honors.

Cy Young Award- Jake Arrietta (Chicago Cubs)

Arrieta threw no-hitter Aug. 30th; 21-6, 1.82 ERA in 2015

    The Cy Young Award race, like many other award races in the National League this year was highly competitive. You could make a case to give the award to a handful of aces. This year however, I give the award to Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrietta. Arrietta is 21-6 (1st MLB) with a 1.82 ERA (2nd MLB) with 229 (4th NL) strikeouts in 223 innings (3rd MLB). Not to mention that Jake Arrieta threw a no-hitter August 30th against the Dodgers (a playoff team) in Los Angeles. Less than a moth later, he almost did it again against the Pirates (another playoff team) surrendering the first and only hit to Pittsburgh in the top of the 7th inning. Arrieta seems to get better with every start as it gets closer to the playoffs, which is what you want from the ace of a playoff team. Technically Jon Lester is being paid to be the ace, but there is no doubt that Arrietta will get the ball for the Cubs in the Wild Card game with their season on the line. That is why he is my NL Cy Young Award winner.

Rookie of the Year- Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs)

SI cover August 2015

    The only award race that has been tighter than the NL Cy Young race is the race for NL Rookie of the Year. It seems as though there are a dozen candidates and each one of them leads all the other rookies in some category. If you watched a matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals, you were likely to see four or five of those candidates on the same field. And if you watched the Chicago Cubs at all, you saw a team full of rookies in the same dugout. That is the dugout where the award will go, as I believe Cubs' third baseman Kris Bryant will win it. Ever since Bryant was drafted 3rd overall in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, he was long awaited and highly-anticipated. Personally, I haven't seen that kind of buzz around a draft prospect since Stephen Strasburg, and this may have been even bigger since he was bound for Wrigley. Despite their notable struggles Chicago remains to be one of the most alive baseball cities with some of the best fans in all of sports. The Wrigley faithful needed somebody to rally around, and on April 17, 2015 in an afternoon home game against San Diego, Kris Bryant took his first steps into the batter's box at Wrigley Field. In 148 games since then, he has lived up to his sky-high expectations. Bryant has a .279 average with 26 home runs and 99 RBIs. Bryant, along with his teammates, have ignited a great baseball city once again. Bryant has also broken Cubs' rookie records for home runs and RBIs. It would be hard to believe, going into the playoffs, that if your team isn't in the postseason, that you wouldn't be rooting for the Cubbies. I expect Wrigleyville to gain hundreds of new fans this month.

Manager of the Year- Terry Collins (New York Mets)
    The last award I will hand out goes to New York Mets manager Terry Collins. With all of the attention in New York going to the Yankees during baseball season for the past few decades, the Mets were in need of a change. Each time in the past few years that it seemed like they'd be in contention, the Mets found a way to blow it by season's end and sitting at home in October. Then walks in Terry Collins. The Mets are 89-70 with three games to go and have already clinched the NL East title. The St. Louis Cardinals are the best team in the National League and manager Mike Matheny is certain a candidate for Manager of the Year, but the difference is, the Cardinals were expected to manke an appearance in October, and the Mets were not. And because the Mets are not only in the playoffs, but ran away the the division in the second half of the season, Terry Collins has earned the title of National League Manager of the Year.

    So there you have it. Those are my predictions for the major award races. Enjoy the rest of the regular season and I will see you back here in a few days to give you my predictions for the postseason.