Wednesday, February 13th, 2013 at 10:50 am  |  99 responses

Carmelo Anthony Says It’s Too Early to Declare LeBron James the MVP


by Marcel Mutoni / @ marcel_mutoni

The Miami Heat (35-14) have 33 games remaining on their regular season schedule, and unless something drastic happens, LeBron James will walk away with the fourth MVP award of his career (and second in a row.)

Not so fast, says Carmelo Anthony.

Melo — who enjoyed some MVP hype early on — admits that he’s awed by the historic season LeBron is having, but isn’t ready to hand him the Maurice Podoloff Trophy just yet.

Per the NY Post:

“It’s early,” said Anthony. “It’s All-Star break right now. He’s definitely playing like a Most Valuable Player so we’ll see what happens.”

Regardless of whether the media types who eventually decide the award send the trophy to Miami for James, to Los Angeles for Kobe Bryant or Chris Paul, to Oklahoma City for Kevin Durant, to San Antonio for Tony Parker or to New York for Anthony, the Knicks’ superb forward acknowledged his Heat rival has been unreal. “That’s crazy. What he’s doing right now is unbelievable. He’s scoring 30, 40 points on 11 shots, [shooting] 10-for-12. He’s on an incredible run right now,” Anthony said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

LeBron James’ current level of play could begin to tail off later on in the season, assuming the Miami Heat build a comfortable lead atop the Eastern Conference standings (Carmelo’s New York Knicks are in second place, and 3 games back of the defending champs.)

The MVP is very much LeBron’s to lose, which seems like an increasingly unlikely possibility.

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  • LakeShow

    It’s because it’s the MVP award.
    Stats, and record do not determine it, but rather a combination many things. One of which is how your team plays without you. CP3 is one of the most valuable players for his team in he L. Maybe the most valuable.

  • Happy

    I could be wrong, but I do remember the same thing you’re talking about happening last year. KD ended up with better stats than Lebron, and after that one game everyone was saying KD should be MVP. I hate that people are so fickle that they allow single games to determine an award for an entire season.

  • pposse

    CP is no slouch or anything but i mean c’mon, to this point in the season both KD and Bron Bron are having historic seasons, how can it not be one of those two guys??!

  • Happy

    Again, none of what you are saying about talent matters when the record speaks for itself.

    Wins and losses with and without that player determines how valuable they are to the team. 31-11 with him, 6-6 without him. What else needs to be said besides that?

  • LakeShow

    I agree they are top 2, but it is really hard to say CP3 is not in the MVP race. He’s just too good not to be.
    Plus, stats = schmats…
    His stats aren’t as good because he only plays 32 mins a game! Bron and KD are both above 38… That’s certainly not a knock on Paul, Bledsoe is just that good that CP3 can rest.

  • k-Dub

    Durant wont win a MVP until Lebron turns about 32. Because his style of play and stats are not as exciting as Lebron’s. Just the scoring is incredible. In saying that the next 4 years the MVP Race will be D Rose vs Lebron.

  • Dutch Rich

    His durability has added value wouldn’t you say?

  • Dutch Rich

    Only at the 1 and 2. At the 1 it’s glaring as Bled has shown he’s hardly ready for pure point guard duty and doesn’t take open shots.

  • whooo!

    top 3 won’t cut it, Clips need to dominate and finish best in the West at least. no way CP3 can finish behind both OKC/SA, while Durant/Parker put up similar/better stats, and still win MVP. it’s just too hard of a case for voters to make (this doesn’t even include Lebron yet)

    also, i actually thought Lebron’s stats would blow KD out the water, but they’re not that different: 27/8.1/6.9 on 56% shooting vs 29/7.4/4.4 on 52% shooting. Lebron has an edge, but i imagine their records are also gonna be pretty similar… it might come down to whoever makes the biggest splash in the final month to sway voters’ short-term memories.

  • Shmomo

    I don’t think Kobe has made the Lakers a contender this season

  • monkeyball

    The fact that he only plays 32mpg should count against him for MVP. He’s just not contributing as much to team success as the guy playing 38mpg.

  • LakeShow

    Nope, it shouldn’t.
    It should say even more about him.
    He puts his team in the best position to win, in fewer minutes played than anyone else.

  • Jone

    haha melo thinks he has a chance… that’s sooo funny!!!

  • The Fury

    Larry Bird

  • danpowers

    lol rose wasnt really THE mvp when he won it, as you can also see at the recent bulls record. hes a great player but by far no mvp. that award was more about pushing the league’s next darling than honouring performance. as i said, great player tho

  • Max

    Couldn’t agree more.

  • Caboose

    Grr, if I have to be specific, I’d say it’s:
    50% best player on best team, 35% the collapse of a team without said player, and 15% sheer performance. By that logic, I think my list is sound. You have your own philosophy which is fine, I’m just saying my view is still logically consistent.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Brill86 Andrew Woods

    Listening to so much converage of Lebron made a question pop in my head. Instead of comparing LeBron to Jordan, I’d like to know who was the better ‘sidekick’…dwade or pippen? Me personally I’d say Pippen by a lot.

  • Slick Ric

    Not true, his second MVP came after MJ retired the second time.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    Not arguing with your logic. Just wanted your reasoning, not everyone else’s. I already get how the voting typically works lol

  • 23

    Ok yeah obviously kobe isn’t at that point in his career anymore. I guess o should’ve been more specific.

  • 23

    The record does speak to the players importance to some degree, but its not the only barometer. I think you have to take into consideration who the comp was.

  • 23

    Agreed, he was the anti-lebron.

  • 23

    Wade has been very inconsistent throughout his career, although it is obviously due to durability issues. But imo if you cant give your all on the court every night, due to injuries or any other reason, I am not gonna give you the same glory I would if you were healthy. Look at the pavers series last year. Look at the Celtics series. Look at the bulls series from ’11. Wade has been to inconsistent to make the case that hes capable of leading a team deep into the playoffs. If wade was not as fragile then yes i would agree. But he’s not.

  • 23

    I agree. As weird as it sounds I think wade was a better leader, but pippens game is better suited as a complementary player.

  • 23

    LeBron and Melo’s names were always linked, but now its KD and LeBron.

  • Caboose

    Ah, fair enough. Well yes, those are my qualifications for MVP. Therefore, LeBron is number 1 as he is by far the best player on the 3rd best team, his performance this year is unmatched in roughly a decade, but I think the Heat would be OK without him, but not crazy dominant. Parker on the other hand has been consistently the best player on the best team, he’s putting up crazy shooting numbers for a point guard, but, like LeBron, the team would probably be ok without him. The reason I have Paul lower is that the Clips aren’t doing as well. Granted, he was out, which does serve to prove that he is valuable to his team. However, his performance isn’t near LeBron or Tony and, missing games (even if your team struggles or not) means you aren’t adding value. So yeah, I think my list (based on my arbitrary criterion) is good.

  • RKJ92

    You forgot about defense and shutting oposing teams players down. Though statistically they are close defensively they are not, LeBron blows KD’s defense out of the water easilyyyy

  • RKJ92

    LOL Parker over Durant, and Paul that actually gave me a good laugh :)

  • Yi-Cheng Chen

    i sense jealousy.

  • underdog

    IMHO the MVP award is not about who is the best, but who is the most important to his team. I mean Nash has won twice as many MVP awards as Kobe. It can’t be about who is the best…

  • http://www.facebook.com/shooting.guard.319 Shooting Guard

    he should be more concerned with getting a ring

  • http://www.facebook.com/dan.cohn.77 Dan Cohn

    Lebron doesnt show up to games and miss 19 fckn shots you might as well give that trophy to lebron right now cause theirs no way that melo has a shot at it the knicks are basically a 500 ball team mvp’s come from winning ballclubs!!!!

  • 池昊晨

    haah

  • 池昊晨

    hello

  • danpowers

    last year he played with plantar fasciitis and was still better / more efficient than bryant. tell me any sg in the l who could do that. wade is a finals mvp, a future hall of famer and given through how many injuries he battled without missing too many games i wouldnt call him “fragile”. penny hardaway, tracy mcgrady or vince carter were fragile, but not wade. he was able to adjust. do those numbers anyhow look like the performance of a fragile player? http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/wadedw01.html i dont think so

  • danpowers

    maybe

  • pposse

    D Rose provides mental stability for the bulls with or without him on the court. At the end of the day all of these guys are the top 200-300 basketball players on the planet. IE: Whats separates a Kobe Bryant from a Danny Granger is moreso his mentality then the skills/ talent.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    What about Paul defensively? He’s prolly been the best in the league all season, and only in 32 minutes at that? Look how many steals he has compared to turnovers. Seriously do it, showing you myself doesn’t do it justice.

  • danpowers

    coach thibs and the team as a whole provide great defense and teamplay on offense. that lets any scorer look great as a player.

  • pposse

    Ofcourse, and im not going to deny that. The two most important pieces on the Bulls is Rose and Thibs in that order imo. Here’s a tid bit of what D Rose said yesterday when speaking to reporters:

    “It’s great, man, knowing that they’re winning games,” he said. “It seems like they’re fighting for me so I don’t have anything but respect for how hard they’ve been working.”

    Im swaying towards believing that what he said in that quote is %100 true. Its the same type of mentality that “Lebron-fidence” used to give the Cleveland Cavs squads.

    To say that D Rose is only a great scorer is a little harsh and unfair.

  • Caboose

    Agreed, dude is RUTHLESSLY efficient. I’m just going on preference here man, there’s really no need debating who wins the non-existent silver.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    did you look at those turnovers to steals numbers though? it’s seriously mind boggling

  • Caboose

    Agreed. Agreed. Know what else is mind-boggling? TP shooting a better percentage than Durant. I mean, he’s averaging 21 and 8 in under 33 minutes a game. While shooting almost 54% from the floor with only .4 more TO’s per game than Paul. Crazy.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    that is pretty outrageous, but understandable with the different in attempts and 3′s. but, admittedly, part of my issue with Parker as MVP is he has Pop. I don’t think Parker is more valuable then his coach. While say James, Paul, & Durant are.

  • danpowers

    i didnt say he is only a great scorer. i said any good scorer would look good on this team. in my statement above i even said ” as i said, great player tho”. not only scorer, i said “great player”, sir

  • Caboose

    And see I agree, but that argument only fits to 35% of my criterion.

  • http://twitter.com/sooperfadeaway nbk

    But Paul has him statistically too lol

  • C0P0

    Not for the writers and analyst.

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