MIAMI — When LeBron James was taken out to thunderous
applause in the final minute Sunday of Miami's last regular-season home game,
he gave a wave to his supporters that looked like one a winning politician
might offer.
And why not? While some precincts might still have to report, this election is
over. James will win MVP.
The race looked way too close to call starting the week. But James had a
stirring performance at New Jersey, scoring the final 17 points in a
come-from-behind Heat win on Monday. Later that night, Oklahoma City forward
Kevin Durant, the challenger, fizzled in a loss at the Los Angeles Clippers,
scoring just five points after he had put up 19 in the first half.
The James express continued to roll through the week. On Thursday, the forward
totaled 27 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in win over Chicago on national
TV.
Sunday offered Durant's last real chance to make a statement. In a nationally
televised game at the Los Angeles Lakers, Durant had 35 points. But he shot a
brutal 11 of 34 and the Thunder blew an 18-point lead in a double-overtime
loss.
Meanwhile, Sunday night at AmericanAirlines Arena, James had another great
closing act. Returning to the game against Houston with 7:35 left and his team
down four, James either scored or assisted on 18 of his team's next 20 points
as the Heat went on to win 97-88.
"Some of my boys on Houston just shook their heads at the end of the game,
and said, 'That guy's an animal,'" said Miami forward Shane Battier, who
played for the Rockets for 4½ years before being traded to Memphis in February
2011.
References to James being human didn't seem to be thrown around very much
Sunday.
"He is a beast," said Houston forward Chandler Parsons, a rookie from
Florida who led the Rockets with 23 points. "He's different than everyone
else. He's strong and he's so big. He passes the ball so well."
Parsons guarded James during much of a stretch between when he returned with
7:35 to go and when he departed to applause with 33.6 seconds remaining. Those
seven minutes of fourth-quarter action saw James score 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting,
while grabbing two rebounds and handing out three assists to finish the night
with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Put it all together, and expect James to become just the eighth player in NBA
history to win a third MVP next month. The other names on the list are true
legends: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan claimed five,
Wilt Chamberlain finished with four, and Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses
Malone each won three.
"I don't know whether I'm the MVP or not," James said when asked if
his sterling week wrapped it up. "The voters will vote in. The only thing
that matters to me is us getting wins. I always said if team success happens,
individual accolades take care of itself."
Ballots aren't due by media members until shortly after Thursday's final
regular-season games, so the last thing James would want to do is proclaim
victory. But it remains to be seen if either of the two candidates will even
play another regular-season game.
With the Heat (46-18) all but certain to finish with the No. 2 seed in the
East, don't expect James to suit up Tuesday at Boston or Thursday at
Washington. When asked if he would play in those games, James said, "I
could use the rest." He also said that sitting out Saturday's game against
Washington "did absolutely nothing for me" in terms of being more
rested.
The Thunder (46-18) are all but locked into No. 2 in the West, so who knows if
Durant will play in home games Tuesday against Sacramento or Wednesday against
Denver? Also, Durant, who took a 27.91 to 27.86 points-per-game lead Sunday
over the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, might have wrapped up his third consecutive
scoring title since it's uncertain whether Bryant will step on the court in his
team's finale Thursday at Sacramento.
So the final numbers could be in. James is averaging 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds
and 6.2 assists to Durant's 27.9, 8.0 and 3.5. James also is shooting 53.1
percent to 49.7 for Durant.
Until recently, it looked as if Durant might be able to get a boost by having
steered his team to a better record and a No. 1 seed. But the Thunder only have
been able to split their past 12 games, and have fallen behind San Antonio in
the West.
"I think LeBron is having a historic season, and he's doing it on so many
different levels," said Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose team relied on
James plenty Sunday with Dwyane Wade out with a dislocated finger and Chris
Bosh sitting with muscle fatigue in his legs. "For us to be successful, it
goes without saying (James) has to have an MVP-caliber season. … He's having a
spectacular season."
Battier agreed with Spoelstra that James should be MVP. Battier, though,
believes James wrapped up the race for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy even before
this week.
"He didn't need to do anything," Battier said when it was suggested
James recently broke away from Durant after it had the makings of a close race.
"His body of work speaks for itself. Historically, his numbers are on par
with the all-time greats.
“It's really a no-brainer, if there's a question. Durant's
had a phenomenal year, and they've played great. But I just think LeBron has
had a special, special season."
James had special seasons when he won his previous MVPs with Cleveland in
2008-09 and 2009-10. But everybody knows what happened in July 2010, when James
stiffed the Cavaliers on the "The Decision" show and saw his
popularity plummet.
But James has done a great job in slowly building it back up. He's done it with
humility, which is why seemingly every question he has been asked about the MVP
race includes some variation of the word "humbling."
He said it Sunday. He said it recently after TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal made
James his MVP pick. He said it recently when talking about the company he could
join if he claims a third MVP.
"If I'm able to win it this year, it would be very humbling, knowing the
caliber of guys who have won it three times," James said. "It would
be gratifying as well to know just one year removed from what I came from last
year as far as my game."
If James does win the award, he’ll become just the fourth player to have won
MVPs with different teams. Abdul-Jabbar was awarded three with Milwaukee and
three with the Lakers, Chamberlain won one with the Philadelphia Warriors and
three with the Philadelphia 76ers, and Malone claimed two with Houston and one
with the 76ers.
So here's the prediction: Sometime in May, James will stand next to NBA
commissioner David Stern and say it's "humbling."
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com
or on Twitter @christomasson
