LeBron is King!

While I am on my Dwight Howard for MVP kick, I can’t deny the fact that LeBron James is doing something that hasn’t been done since the 1988-89 season; average at least 30, 8 & 8, when Michael Jordan averaged 32.5 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists. LeBron is averaging:

31.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8 assists with 1.92 steals and 1.62 blocks while shooting 49%



Those are absolutely astonishing stats! He has a VERY long way to go to keep these averages up, but he has had a triple double in his last two games and looks simply unstoppable right now.

I mentioned in my Cavaliers Preview that LeBron worked on his shot mechanics during the summer and the hard work has really paid off! He is leading the league in scoring (as I predicted he would all season), his percentages are up as well; from 47.6% to 49.2% field goal and the biggest jump has been his three point percentage from 31.9% last year to 36.8% this year. The only reason the Cavs are respectable this year, is because of LeBron’s improved play. In fact, if Danny Ferry wasn’t so inept in building a team around LeBron, they would likely be the favorite to win the East again. Unfortunately the Cavs got worse this summer, while so many other eastern conference teams greatly improved.

Last year LeBron took it easy during the regular season, so he would have enough in his tank for the playoffs. Why has he turned it on so much this year? Maybe it’s because he realized how important home court advantage is (if they would have won 8 more games they would have had home court against the Spurs in the finals). It could be because he feels like he has something to prove after getting swept by the Spurs in his first finals appearance. The likely answer is that he knows he must play his best in order for his team to be competitive. It is a shame that the Cavs cannot put acceptable role players around the best, most unselfish superstar in the League. Imagine if LeBron had Jason Kapono to pass out too, or Jose Calderon manning the point? (I used two Toronto Raptors players because Bryan Colangelo has done a phenomenal job building a team around Chris Bosh) Nothing against Drew Gooden or Ilgauskas; I like both of them, but every other player on that team, aside from LeBron, should be coming off the bench in limited roles.

If LeBron can get this team in the top four of the Eastern Conference again, then he should and will get his first MVP! We’ll just have to watch and see if he can keep up this pace for 68 more games!

All that being said, I’m still pulling for Dwight! D12 for MVP!