Shaky Ankles

For a majority of this lockout shortened 2011-12 season, LeBron James was a solid five or six strides ahead of everyone else in the always entertaining race for MVP. The Miami Heat looked unbeatable when they wanted to be, and the biggest reason for that was James’ consistent magnificence.

Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul joined him in early season conversation, but eventually LeBron simply pulled away, looking like a man on a mission. Playing in a condensed season that posed a lose-lose situation for both him and his team (the Heat could have gone 66-0 this season and nobody would care unless they won the championship), James began to put up historical numbers. When Dwyane Wade went down for an extended stretch, the question was posed as to whether Miami was actually a better team with LeBron running the show by himself. Wade is one of the league’s 10 best players on an off night. This train of thought was insane and intriguing at the same time.

I don’t recall anybody ever saying the Bulls were better without Scottie Pippen, or the early 2000 Lakers were better without Kobe Bryant. This was hard evidence for just how other-worldly LeBron’s season was earlier this season. There was a Bryan Cranston at the Emmys type of feel about LeBron and the MVP award this year. It was his to lose. Nobody was close.

Then March 20th happened. In a game against the Phoenix Suns, with the outcome already decided, James and Grant Hill crashed into each other diving for a loose ball. The collision was so violent, there was talk James might have suffered a concussion. Three nights later, he had a surprisingly subpar effort against Detroit, going 6-15 from the field for a puny 17 points. Granted LeBron had 10 assists, four steals, and his team won, but with LeBron the expectations are always higher than everyone else’s.

Two days later, in a much anticipated Sunday night matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder—and more importantly, prime rival MVP candidate Kevin Durant—both LeBron and his team floundered. The result was a seismic shift in the race. LeBron went head to head with Durant and was badly outplayed. For the first time, LeBron’s five fingers appeared to be slipping off the trophy.

Exactly one week later, the Heat were handed their worst loss of the season, and James recorded 0 assists (passing is the largest advantage his game has over Durant’s) while the Thunder handed the league’s best team (record wise) their worst beating in recent memory.

Between the win against Phoenix on March 20th and last night’s 41 point demolition of Philadelphia, Miami was 3-3, playing like an average basketball team at best. And LeBron’s MVP candidacy is on the ropes like a popular politician enduring a sex scandal in early October.

The trophy is officially up for grabs.

As we go into the three main components that decide who should be named MVP, it should be noted that for the rest of the season, this is a two horse race; it would be “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has been nominated for an Osacr” type shocking if either LeBron James or Kevin Durant did not win. They’re the two best players in the league, and until further notice, their respective teams are headed on a probable collision course this June.

But this column isn’t about them so much as it is the award’s selection process. Each year, or so it seems, the requirement to win is altered. One year it could be awarded to the best player, another year it could be given to someone dragging his team by the scruff of its neck into playoff obliteration. Is it too much to ask for a little consistency?

(Quick Tangent: It’s absolutely INFURIATING to hear former players, analysts, and reporters speak about the MVP on television as if it’s a little child swaying back and forth on a swing. When there’s a month left in the regular season it makes absolutely no sense to say one guy has “passed” another just because he outplays him in a single game. This award is supposed to validate an ENTIRE season’s body of work. Right? It doesn’t matter who you think should win, please, for the love of God, just present your case with some logical evidence and move to the next topic of discussion. Thank you.)

There are so many different paths that can be taken to receiving the MVP award. Here, in my opinion, are the three most important: Narrative, Statistics, and Value. Read more…

Last week, a latest chapter in basketball’s least colorful narrative (that is LeBron James’ steamy relationship with the fourth quarter) was written. It was written because Udonis Haslem missed a wide open jump shot. Because Udonis Haslem missed a jump shot, millions of theories and mystical explanations were concocted, then explained all across the internet. Because millions of theories and mystical explanations were concocted, then explained all across the internet, LeBron James will react by tweaking his relationship with the fourth quarter. When LeBron James tweaks his relationship with the fourth quarter, the next chapter will be written. And on and on the cycle goes.

Questions are being asked each and every day but there’s no real furthering of worthwhile development; no answers will be made available until June. What LeBron does nine times out of 10 on a basketball court can either be described as correct, smart, or amazing. Sometimes all three words apply. It’s fine to judge him for his disappearing act in last year’s NBA Finals, but to critique each and every end-game decision with a magnifying glass reserved for the postseason is annoying and pointless.

It’s strange to say, but the move seen above, in it’s late game context, poured a thimble’s worth of gasoline on the flames. Every time Dwyane Wade sees success, the national reaction instantly becomes “Where was LeBron while Wade saved the day?” If James produces his normal brilliance for 47 minutes and then misses a shot to tie or win the game with less than a minute remaining, the game’s story revolves around that minor detail as opposed to the bigger picture. We all know James will never shake the criticism until he wins a championship, but—with so many other/better story lines playing themselves out during the league’s current era of intrigue and athletically led grandeur—in many ways, both the league and the people who enjoy covering it, will feel immense relief once he does.

I would analyze this insane nifty move right now, but Beckley Mason over at HoopSpeak beat me to it yesterday. And a great job he did.

In due honor of “The Whore of Akron: One Man’s Search For The Soul of LeBron James”, a book written by Scott Raab that I’m dying to plummet into as soon as it’s released, this post is half “Shook Ankles” half “Recommended Reading”.

If you saw its excerpt in last month’s Esquire, or just think the title sounds funny and want to know more, TrueHoop scribe John Krolik wrote an elaborate review that’s totally worth checking out. Forget about LeBron, the Miami Heat, or even basketball for a moment. If you enjoy reading good writing then this book is probably worth your attention. In the meantime, here’s my favorite LeBron crossover of all time. Enjoy.

In the grand scheme of what’s altruistically important in life, I believe it’s fair to suggest all teachers, doctors, surgeons, and members of the armed forces should be given financial compensation of equal or greater value to that of which is awarded professional athletes. Their actual impact on human life is indisputably greater, more important, and further reaching. Of course, they don’t (and never will) because the businesses they’re in don’t create the billions upon billions of dollars in gross revenue that the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL produce on an annual basis. They also have an uncountable number of members in their labor force, making each worker’s slice of pie much smaller than that of the athlete. Call it sad. Call it unfair. Call it horribly disproportionate. Call it the real world. Read more…

I know what you’re thinking: LeBron MUST’VE been in foul trouble here. He wasn’t.

Rising: Gordon Hayward

Every 20-year-old rookie in the history of professional basketball has had to prove himself. There are always different variables relating to hype, expectations, and ability, but at the beginning every single one of them must demonstrate why he’s on the team—to his coach, his teammates, and the fans. Not to make this a racial issue, because those are stupid, but like so many collegiate superstars who coincidentally happen to be white and adored by college basketball enthusiasts, television producers, respected analysts, and, most importantly, the millions of national audience members who ritualistically gather on the fringe when March rolls around, Gordon Hayward’s initiation into the NBA was especially uphill. Read more…

Of all the mercurial things that happened with LeBron James during last year’s Finals, this singular moment has to crack the top three. A simple up fake and James, arguably the most versatile defender in the world, buckles? What? How does this make sense at all? Joel Anthony FLYING by Dirk’s move is understandable, because he plays the game like an 8-year-old who’s just funneled two gallons of espresso, but LeBron? Will we ever find an explanation for that whole week? There probably isn’t one, but that doesn’t make it any more coherent.

I believe the otherworldly supernatural activity on True Blood to be be more realistic than the contents of this clip. I know this didn’t happen yesterday, but a Peja blow-by on LeBron James with a Greg Ostertag dunk serving as icing on the play’s cake makes this arguably the most unbelievable move in NBA history. Either that or the floor had a wet spot.

Another warm Thursday evening in June, another gem from the NBA Finals. Between Barea’s reemergance, Wade’s overdo physical ailment, Dirk’s consistent kerplunking of long range jumpers, LeBron’s least appreciatd triple double in basketaball history, and Terry’s entrance into a whole new stratospheric level of clutch, a REALLY great basketball game existed.

Before we dive deep into one of Game 5′s most important plays, let’s first observe it analytically. As Sebastian Pruiti over at NBA Playbook points out—the clip above is from his site—the offensive foul on LeBron James was in fact the correct call, so what does this mean exactly if you’re Wade? (Not to overstate the play’s importance, even though it did come at a crucial juncture, but doesn’t this five second sequence kind of encapsulate the entire Finals up to this point?) Leading the way, Wade makes an unbelievable move, draws two defenders up on him and dishes to LeBron who uncharacteristically turns it over. Both in this play and throughout the entire series, LeBron’s failure has overshadowed Wade’s greatness.

Nobody will remember that Wade lifted Shawn Marion from his socks because drawn charges aren’t replayed 10 years later when they occur with over two minutes left in a game that remains in the balance. LeBron proved incapable of converting on the play so it will eventually get lost in the shuffle, and that’s a tragic thing. The move’s so instantaneous—just like the charge—but what does it mean? When you’re comparing talent so great, a single play can not prove one player to be better than another. However, what it can do is give us evidence as to one’s mental makeup. No, LeBron isn’t mentally weaker than Wade because he bowled into Tyson Chandler at the wrong moment, but aren’t their roles supposed to be reversed in that instance? Isn’t LeBron the playmaker and Dwyane the one who scores at the rim? Maybe Wade didn’t feel comfortable absorbing contact from the baseline because  of his hip. Maybe he didn’t trust LeBron enough to make the crucial play? I’m not buying that last reason as a possibility, but regardless of the result, if presented with the same situation on Sunday night do they both make the same decision? In the words of Mr. Wade, “Time will tell”.