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I'm a piece so MBA great and future hall-of-famer LeBron James recently made the news with his assertion that he would vote for himself as MVP of this current 2017-2018 NBA regular season over James Harden. I don't know why anyone was surprised. This is pretty much modus operandi of LeBron James. He's always been like this, it's just that in the last couple of years he's been more verbose in regards to his self-worship and his lack of respect for many of his colleagues throughout the NBA.
Am I saying that other MVPs in the past or MVP caliber players did not think that they themselves should be MVP, even when they weren't? Of course. But there's a certain tact that you have when you conduct yourself with a certain level of decorum and wherewithal that LeBron James just doesn't have. And certain people may come on my channel and say, "Well, why you always hating on LeBron?" I don't hate on anybody. LeBron James is a so-called black man who made it out of a very tough environment. I have my suspicions in regards to his origins to a certain degree, but that's a whole another video for another day. That's a whole other issue of the topic. I just think that there's a better way for him to project his understanding of his own greatness. He does not always need to pat himself on the back, especially at 33 going on 34. He's a first-ballot Hall with Hall of Famer. If he never wins another championship, he's going down as an all-time great and a top 10 all-time NBA player on pretty much everyone's list.
So, to make a long story short, do I believe that he should have came out and said, "I would vote for myself with MVP?" No. Not him. He doesn't need to say that. Now, someone who's never won it and who's been shafted like a James Harden, I can understand him saying that a little bit more than a LeBron James. But we all know why LeBron's saying is he. He desperately wants to catch Jordan and tie him at five MVPs.
So anyway, they're gonna talk about Emmalyn Shimon. James has his pick for MVP. James Harden? Nope. Anthony Davis? Negative. Here's what the King told The Associated Press: "Vote? I would vote for me. The body of work, how I'm doing it, what's been happening with our team all year long." No notice, he said "the body of work." Now, if he means body of work from a career perspective, I'm sorry, brother, but this is not a career achievement award. That's not how it works. Now, if he means the body of work from the standpoint of what he's done this NBA season, started to finish, he still had not on James Harden's level in regards to accomplishments for the regular season. Now, he may, he may average more in regards to assists and rebounds, and he may have acquired more triple-doubles, but James Harden has a higher PER. He's been better defensively, strangely enough, or at least comparable defensively. He's been a better scorer. He has a higher player efficiency rating, and this team has been much better. And he has not been at the center of a lot of the drama within the locker room like LeBron James has been, and pretty much always is.
How we've got so many injuries and things of that nature, guys in and out, to be able to still keep this thing afloat, I definitely would vote for. He said, "to still keep this thing afloat." That's akin to a master mariner or sailor who literally drills holes in the hull of his own boat and then congratulates himself for being able to navigate it through a storm. Well, we already know how Max feels. You know, he's probably LeBron James's super fan crew. Even Malik Aramis is roll our eyes like, "This dude." You know, yes, you do believe in career achievement awards, which is why many of you are clamoring for LeBron to at least get one more MVP so that you can ratchet up the LeBron vs. Jordan comparisons and debates. He's not only putting eye-popping numbers up, he is a great, great player in his prime and getting better. But he came in second in the MV the last two seasons, and it feels like it's his time. Well, is James Harden? Because he has been this, this regular season MVP, I don't think that's much of a debate, not even a little bit. He's been the best player on the best team, and he's been transcendent. And that, to me, is my criteria. If you're the best player on the best team and your season has been transcendent, you should be the MVP. And the only way that I will give it to anyone other than that player is if that other player is just doing things that are historic. Even though I would not have given the MVP award to Russell Westbrook last season, I could kind of understand why they would give it to him because he had done something that had not been done since Oscar Robertson in the '60s. So we're going back almost 50 years since somebody had averaged a triple-double. Actually, Oscar did it back in 1962. So look long, all the way back beyond 50 years. This anymore must be.
But let's do this like one thought at a time here. Eyeball test. When you watch each player, who do you think is better? No, it's not about who do you think is better. It's about who do you think is better for their team, for that system that they're running. As I've already noted, I didn't tonight, I'm on this channel. The only system that LeBron James can run is the LeBron James system. He's like a guy who owns his own hamburger franchise, and when you go in there, he's the one taking the orders, he's flipping the burgers, he's doing the fries, and he does the cleanup. It's a very successful setup, but it can't be as successful as it can be nationwide because he wants to handle everything. He doesn't know. He doesn't have the ability to delegate other duties to employees, to staff, because he always wants to be the show. He wants to be the reason why the business does well. That's him. James Harden is like the best cashier in the nation at the best hamburger franchise, at least for this year. So it's all about what's more important to the type of business that you're running. The Houston Rockets asked James Harden to do a certain thing, and he does it extremely well. And for what he's done, he's been better this season than LeBron James. When you have your eyes on it, you think that is a better player than that player. A LeBron J better than player B, James Horn? That's one too. Well, fortunately, Max Kellerman, this is not boxing, so we can't judge people individually based on their individual performance. It's about how they fit into the framework of the team. So, no, that pretty much was an argument of your own concoction, a criteria that you've made up so that you can validate your pick of LeBron James, which is, as usual, for you.
This is verified by the numbers, not just the counting numbers, the actual numbers. How many wins is each player worth? This is on espn.com very recently. In fact, LeBron James has been worth 18-plus wins at the time this was done, and James Harden, 16. James Harden is very closely bunched with Anthony Davis, the guy I told you he was clip was close to James Harden. The MVP voting hub because like, Haiti, less than half a win difference. But LeBron James powers over them both. And part of the reason for that is not only is he the best player, he hasn't missed any games. James Harden has missed eight games. That's that's an interesting stat. Max Kellerman states that LeBron James is responsible for more victories as a singular player than James Harden. So then why is it that the Houston Rockets last year, even before they got Chris Paul, won more games than the Cleveland Cavaliers won last year? One, LeBron had Kyrie. So the Rockets won more regular-season games last year, and this is before James Harden got Chris Paul, and they're going to win more games this year. Once again, brothers, many of these stats are created with certain criteria that are built to make sure that a certain type of player is glorified more than another type of player. That's why I say, when whenever you're evaluating a singular player within a team sport, you always have to factor in what is asked of him on that team. It's not just about who has the greatest stats. Stats are important in evaluating players there. It is important, but you also must factor in what is asked of that person because that's going to determine how successful they are and being beneficial to their team. So that is why it's so easy to justify picking LeBron James as the MVP here and the MVP there because, once again, he's someone who wants all the roles, he wants all the duties. He's like Eddie Murphy, he wants to play all the characters in the movie. Or maybe James Harden is able to play with better teammates than LeBron James is able to play with. That's why ever since they were able to downsize to star power of those around him, he has shown more. Isn't that interesting? Go ahead, do that. Of course, that's called the standings. There's already, you know, word for that. It's seeding in the playoffs. If, on the other hand, we're trying to isolate the value of a player, I know it's boring, I know it doesn't seem fair, it's not interesting, but the answer is today, as it is every single season, LeBron James, he is your regular season MVP. So far? No, I wouldn't say that he's a regular season MVP. I would say that LeBron James is probably the most important player to the overall NBA narrative, and I think that sometimes people get that confused. It's like when you watch a Star Wars movie, is Darth Vader the most valuable character in the film, or is he the character that the entire crux of the plot is hinged around? And is that the same thing? Sometimes it is the same thing, sometimes it's not. For example, even in these current sequels, the ghosts of Darth Vader still reverberate, but he's not the most valuable character. Well, we're in an NBA right now where the LeBron James narrative is essential because they're about to bring it to a. That's why I make certain videos in regards to, "Does the NBA want LeBron James in the finals?" Are they ready to cash out on LeBron James? Because they're trying to figure out how to put a nice little bow on his career. He's going to try to continue playing, and Adam Silver's fine with that, but they want to build up other players to keep the overall NBA mythos developing in a proper direction. That's how you run a business. If you know, if you're operating a car company, you can have the, you know, the best car of 2015, but while you're basking in the glory of having the best car of 2015, you're already looking at designs for 2020. And that's how the NBA has to run their business. They just can't keep glorifying LeBron James. They have to build up future players. Once again, that's the importance of an entity, Culpo, I would call Anthony Towns. You're going to see them thought to build up swing players, players like the kid that's out there in in Phoenix. They're most likely going to try to move him, some Devin Booker, because they need two guards to start pushing. They're good in the big man area, but they need two guards to start to promote and to escalate and elevate into greater prominence. This was good for the league. There's nothing to debate. James Harden plays on a team that's 17 games better than the Cleveland Cavaliers. James Harden, it, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. He's averaging 30. He's averaging 38 and 5. He's a better perimeter shooter. He's a better free-throw shooter, and he is clearly leading the pack in Houston, who has been a model of consistency in a tougher conference. That's number two. Number three, even though the numbers are there for LeBron James, obviously, to be an MVP discussion because he should be every year because numbers. Watch it. Certainly doesn't shortchange you or fall off. The reality is is that again, LeBron does have something to do with your consistencies of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Absolutely. Thank you, Steve. And I give Steve credit. He's been pretty much on point in regards to how they've tried to contort the actualities of what transpired in the Cleveland Cavaliers situation. The the narrative with them, starting from the preseason, the Kyrie Irving scenario, that storyline, how that, how that played a major part in the eventual decline of their chances to win a championship this season, which they really had none anyway. But Steve has been on point with how he's followed this story and how LeBron has tried to alter the overall narrative to help himself out. And he, he needs to alter it so that he has a chance to win the MVP this year. He needs to switch that over to, "Look at me, look at what I've done with a little bit that I've had." That's why I told you guys when they made that big trade, it was perfect for him because it gave him the chance to make, to make this season a vanity piece for himself. You know, it's like sometimes you have great actors, and they become a part of a of a project, a movie where there are other prominent stars, and some actors are able to deal with that, and some aren't. Like I mentioned the film "A Few Good Men," Jack Nicholson was only in that film combined maybe 10 minutes, but he was able to win an Oscar for that film because of the fact that he did the most with his part of the movie. And then you have other actors who have to be in, or are normally in films where they get to glamorize themselves, glorify themselves, so that they can get those reviews with it where their performance was a quote-unquote tour-de-force. LeBron James is like that. He needs that. He needs that. His ego is as fragile as it is overpowering for him this year. Not just because Kyrie Irving left, primarily because he didn't want to be the little brother or to all of his son, the Viola Bron James, per se. Not revisiting history, but there was what quotes that I personally put over the airwaves because that's what was told to me. But also, you take into account the way, way to our arrival, the relationship with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, and how that served indirectly, any way, to alienate some of the people that LeBron James had cultivated a close relationship with. What I told you, brothers, just prior to this current NBA regular season, that the main reason why the Cleveland Cavaliers brought in Dwyane Wade was to act as an emotional support for Mr. LeBron James because it is still the consensus throughout the NBA that LeBron James is always in danger of having a psychological breakdown. Now, he's been much better since he's came back to Cleveland and been forced into a prominent position of leadership. He was put under the tutelage of Wade and shown how to be a real leader as opposed to what he was in his first tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers, which is pretty much as the head of the Boy Scouts. That's why he was posing for pictures on the sidelines and doing all types of silly dances. And the vestiges of that are still in existence. He still has a lot of Peter Pan in him, that little boy mentality. But I think that he understands now a little bit of the differentiation between what he was and what he's trying to be in regards to his mental fragility. He's still not a good leader. He's still not a good leader, which is why they had to get rid of all the grown men and bring in castoffs because castoffs are forced to submit to him. But it's still pretty much understood that LeBron could employ any moment mentally. And the new implosion for him is, "I'm just gonna go for mine." In previous years, the implosion was, "I'm gonna give up, I'm gonna stop playing hard, and I'm gonna score eight points in an NBA Finals game." Now it's, "I'm gonna get me a nice 30-point triple-double and just post it on Twitter or Instagram or whatever. I did my part." To relationships, when you look at the level of consistency that the Cleveland Cavaliers have had this year, LeBron James is a culprit in all of this. Idol? Absolutely not just a culprit, the culprit. He's the prime mover. He was the one who decided that he wanted to plot to have Kyrie Irving move for Chris Paul in the middle of the season. That didn't work. He was the one who was informing the Cleveland Cavalier front office that he needed more help and that Kyrie Irving should be moved. And when they brought him a potential deal involving Paul George as well as Eric Bledsoe, the only thing that stopped him from co-signing it was the fact that Cleveland wanted him to sign an extension. So it wasn't any loyalty card to Kyrie Irving that that shut down that, that trade or that offer or that deal. It was the fact that LeBron did not want to be boxed in to any type of deal that would have precipitated him being forced into a long-term engagement with the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. He wants to move on to somewhere else. That's not what I'm trying to imply. What I'm simply saying is that the kind of year that they were capable of having, that cohesion and togetherness, can ultimately breathe. He played a role in dismantling. There's no escaping that reality. Absolutely. Will you take that into account along with the fact that they had a weak economy, along with the fact that this 17 games worse than Houston, along with the fact that James Harden is averaging 38.5? There is nothing to discuss thus far. You're right, there is not. Is the league in? By the way, you're right, there is nothing to discuss. You want to talk about just printing it, counting numbers. LeBron, that we've already went over your primitive counting numbers. Max Kellerman, and he's already laid out how LeBron James has affected the team in a way that has precipitated him being forced to be more of a statistical force on the team in order for them to be successful. So really, what are you saying is, I don't think that, I don't think that Max Kellerman truly understands what it means to be an MVP of a team. It's not just about counting stats. Now, maybe if we're talking about baseball, if you're a top-level player on a very good to great team in baseball, then we can go through stats because baseball is much more stat-driven. Twenty-seven nine eight. Philip me like so three points versus how many rebounds and and and more assists with games like 17 games. Oh, oh, so now you want to make it about team? Yes, that's not only how it goes in a team sport, Max Kellerman. At some point, we're gonna have to make it about team, sir. You don't have to run from that question, Stephen A. Smith. You don't have to say you're making about results. Yes, it is about team. It's about team results. Chased off in the offseason. We're talking about this regular season. No, you actually do have to count who he ran off in the offseason. And even if we're talking about the regular season, it was his shameful play and the fact that by all intents and purposes, he pretty much gave up on the team from late December to our January, which forced the hand of the Cleveland Cavaliers general manager to make that, make a blockbuster deal so that they can get LeBron James back mentally engaged. So no, you cannot be an MVP when you basically take a month off because you're not into it. And beyond that, yes, you do have to count many of his high jinks in the preseason because what he did and pushing Kyrie off the team, it led to a scenario in which he had to have a more stat-driven season in order to give his team a chance to win games. One, look at their teammates. James Harden is not a perfectly constructed team. He has a brilliant GM. G is he just on a perfectly constructed team, or is it that he knows how to use the teammates that he has a little bit better? Was Clint Capela someone who was at the tip of everyone's tongue before this season? Trevor Ariza is a nice player. Eric Gordon is a nice player. They're both pretty much castoffs. They're viewed as players who had very good potential who were never quite able to reach their potential. Now they seem to be, they seem to be blossoming in that environment in Houston. Compare that to the team, to the roster that LeBron James had coming into this season. They were viewed as having the most talent-rich roster in the NBA, at least in regards to name recognition. People like you, Max Kellerman, were telling your viewers that with Isiah Thomas, Cleveland should not miss a beat because Isiah Thomas was going to bring exactly what Kyrie Irving brought. That's what you were saying, sir. GM and a coach were the cohesive offensive philosophy. Houston is simply better than Cleveland. That's not because James Harden is on Houston and LeBron James. You could go to any team you want to. If you play a role of dismantling and dismantling cohesive er, you're going to have a detrimental effect. Thank you, sir. And once again, no, not just in the offseason. There's a reason why they had to make a mega blockbuster trade during the regular season. Max Kellerman, LeBron James, his fans, or something else. You know that mean? Nothing is as bad as a Kobe Bryant fans. Those those guys are off the chain. But the LeBron James fans, they're like, they're like weed heads. They just, they caught up in their own haze. Kyrie Irving on the team last season? That's not what he asked you. He asked you, was Kyrie Irving on the team last season? Max Kellerman, I think that you popped one too many Feta mean pills, sir. Allegedly, he's not on this [ __ ] are you not on the record saying that LeBron had something to do that you cannot evaluate? Okay, wait a minute. I love how you answer without answer. It not only did you bring that up, Max Kellerman, you also pointed out how you had a problem with the way away because as you were watching Cleveland Israel and the relationship that they have with what you a cute ho? Come on, you accused the way Wade of having a detrimental effect on LeBron. Absolutely. Hold on. LeBron's numbers did into Windell at that particular moment in time. Boys were still putting up his number, but you still said it was a negative effect. Why? Right. The effect on the. Max is trying to think of what bullish a he's gonna say in response to Stephen A's point right now. You like, right, LeBron found LeBron had a hangnail there in that time period. Wasn't good. Cleveland's record. And look at the supporting cast. Kevin Love has been missing for a good. Yeah, when they were struggling, you said, "What the heck? It was a way way that the Wade Wade had a negative impact on LeBron." And I'm saying, "LeBron was balling, man." Well, I have to correct you, Stephen A. Actually, the team was not balling at that point. Around January is when they had their nadir. This was during the time period where Isiah Thomas came back into the lineup, the same player that many of you in the media and LeBron James himself stated was going to make a difference in regards to the still, in regards to the scoring punch that he was going to bring, especially once he was brought back into the fold and they could evaluate what what lineups they should play. Well, that's really when their downturn started. And then due to the fact that it was a veteran-laden locker room, and many of those players seemed to be borderline antagonistic to LeBron, especially Jae Crowder, it created an environment that LeBron James could not function in. He just couldn't function in that environment because LeBron does not do well in negative environments. He does well in creating negative environments, but he does not do well in dwelling in them. That's why periodically he has to leave and go to another team, or in this case, they have to flush out their roster and bring in fresh guys. It was a fractured locker room, and LeBron James deserves some culpability. So therefore, you know, Max Kellerman, now that Stephen A. has finally got you to acknowledge that you should just give up, just acquiesce to the understanding to the point, the only valid point in this conversation, which is that James Harden is this season's MVP, period. James Harden. Some credit for the togetherness of the Rockets, and he deserves it. That's not enough to overcome LeBron James' clear game-for-game superiority. I agree. I agree. Steve Naismith, he's lying to the public, or really more aptly, he's just telling his truth, quote-unquote, because that's the new phrase for lying that you're telling your truth. So, well, let Max Kellerman tell his truth how he wants things to be, and let him continue on. Ten percent from the field better than Harden? You know how much better Harden shoots from three? Zero percent better. They shoot the same from three. Well, saying as the Rockets play a different offense than the Cleveland Cavaliers play, that could also factor into why LeBron James, who shoots a better percentage, but LeBron does concentrate on creating better shots for himself than James Harden does. He likes to drive to the basket more, and oftentimes he will not take a shot that he feels like he's not going to make unless he's in a groove. But overall, LeBron James' shot selection is better than James Harden's. And that's also because he's very cognizant of a shooting percentage. He knows that he has to have a better shooting percentage than Jordan for his career because that would be another check off for him trying to foster the understanding, the belief, the notion that he's a better player than Michael Jordan was. The point that if you want to look at numbers as a reflection of the kind of players they are, we all know LeBron is better. That's why he has better numbers, and he hasn't missed any games. The eyeball test is verified by the statistics. Now you want to turn it into a team award? That's the best player in the world always win everything. You know, they don't. Why do you keep bringing that up? I got a better question. Does the best player in the game always deserve that? That's a much better question, sir. Good job with that question, Stephen A. Smith. And the answer is no. The best player does not always deserve the MVP because the best player in the NBA might not be the best player for that team. On the player who actually does win MVP. So Stephen A. Smith, he understands what the criteria should be for the MV for the NBA MVP for a particular season much better than a Max Kellerman. And overall, as I've stated, the NBA is entertainment. They have to make sure that they advertise their up-and-coming talent. That's how it goes. You don't want too many MVPs going to players in their early to mid-30s. I mean, if you can help it, if you can help it. If you have a player in your league, and your entertainment league, that's 26, 27 years old, you want to give them the MVP if they deserve it. And deserve means that the seasons are comparable to someone who might be having an equally good year, but maybe a little older. That's why I thought that Kawhi Leonard would be a shoo-in for MVP this year, but the situation between he and the San Antonio Spurs seems to be untenable and may have been since the start of the season. But once again, Stephen A. Smith made a great point, a point that I've been making for the duration of this conversation in regards to who should be MVP for this season. It's not always about who's better, it's about who's more valuable. It's the same point that I made during the finals when people claimed that LeBron James should have won the MVP for the 2015 finals or for last year's finals. It's a difference between the most outstanding player and the most valuable. You cannot be more valuable than a player whose team won the championship because you lost. Your team could have lost without you. So the value that you had is capped by the fact that it did not result in a win and a victory. And people may try to talk their way around that, but there's no talking around that. I mean, it's it's like somebody who is running a marathon, but you know they were leading after twenty-five and a half miles, and the body just gave out before they cross the finish line. It doesn't matter. You don't get any honorary awards because you were the best runner until the finish line. The award goes to the person who crosses the finish line first. In other words, who won. You cannot be the most valuable player in a championship series when your team doesn't win. I don't care what stats you put up. You can be the most outstanding player, but not the most valuable. LeBron James this year, you can make a case has been the most outstanding player, but Harden has been the most valuable player. The world doesn't miss any games. They are obviously by definition the MVP, or they wouldn't be that. That is not true. Yeah, that is absolutely not true. That is not true because you can be the best player in the world, but still serve a role in having a negative impact on your team, which is what you said. Let me happen to look, brother. Negatively? Absolutely. Stephen A, a negative impact compared to the old standard that LeBron has set? Compared to his old standard? Apep? No, it has nothing to do with his standard. The negative impact that he had was that he literally hamstrung his own locker room. The loss of Kyrie Irving impacted everyone in that locker room because Kyrie seemed to be very well-liked and lessened their chances of winning. So it has nothing to do with the LeBron James standard. That has to do with anyone's standard. He compromised the integrity of his locker room with his conduct and with his attempts at skullduggery. But Kyrie sniffed them out. That's the problem that many of LeBron James' super fans in the media are still struggling with. That's why you'll notice people like Nick Wright and Shannon Sharpe and Max Kellerman, they seem to be as obsessed with the Boston Celtics as they are with the Cleveland Cavaliers. You notice that throughout the season when Boston had a little stretch where they were 500, say, over 10 games, they went five and five. A lot of these guys on television, "Oh, Boston's surrounded, coming back down to earth." But when Cleveland was struggling, "Oh, I'm not worried. LeBron is going to look. LeBron is 3 of 5 in the finals. Okay, he's gonna do what he normally does. He's gonna go on a little streak in the regular season where he averages some gaudy numbers, and he's gonna go out in the finals and lose. Five. That's what his ask to do because he's the modern-day." I'm glad you said that. Do you believe, because I believe this to be true, do you believe with the same team that in the Eastern Conference, the way up, James Harden could be 44-30? I think he'd be worse than LeBron right now. No, if you were to put James Harden on this Cleveland Cavaliers team in the Eastern Conference, they would be at least 44 and 30. They may, they may have five or six more wins than they have. Cooked away. Cook. With James Harden be a 44 and 30 with this Cleveland Cavaliers team? Any note? No, he would have a war. He won. Yes, he'd have a worse record. Is replete evil lair? And they have a word right now. I don't understand how could that be when LeBron has been with the Cleveland Cavaliers now for four years, and they've never won even 60 games in a regular season. They normally win anywhere from 51 to 53 games. So how could you make the assertion that if you swap LeBron out for James Harden, or if you, if you swap LeBron off for any player in the NBA, that it will result in less wins than if LeBron with a tie? Doesn't make sense because just logically speaking, with that would imply that whatever team LeBron was on would have the best record in the NBA. But anyway, I have to give it to Steve. He came with some good points. He just didn't hold Max down in certain areas like you should have. James Harden will be the MVP for this season, and he will deserve it. Anyway, peace.