Chip Shot
April 16, 2021 at 10:39 p.m.
Chip Shot
By Chip Davenport-
It’s time to rename the NBA MVP award the “MVP Who Is Not LeBron James” award.
When LeBron James comes to a team, they get better. His last two seasons the Cleveland Cavaliers won 66 (league best) and 61 games, respectively. The following year when he signed with the Miami Heat, Cleveland slipped to a league-worst 19-63 record, earned the first pick, Kyrie Irving, and continued to struggle until her returned in Summer 2014 subsequently leading the Cavaliers to four straight finals appearances, one of them being the city’s first major sports title since the 1964 Cleveland Browns captured the NFL championship.
Those four consecutive title series run with the Cavaliers followed four consecutive title series appearances with the Heat (two O’Brien trophies earned among those four seasons). The heat, by the way, went from 54-28 to 37-45 the year James left, and that was with a good management/coach combination (Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra), Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
If you’re counting, folks, there are eight consecutive finals appearances between the two teams. This is Bill Russell stuff!
James was named MVP in the two seasons the Miami Heat were crowned NBA champions. Aside from Steph Curry, no other MVP award winner has, at the very least, advanced with their team to the NBA finals. Instead, the award has gone to anyone but James.
Who’s going to be the MVP Who Is Not Named LeBron James award winner this year? Who cares! The King will very likely contribute to the unfurling of the Lakers 18th NBA Championship Banner come late July, regardless of his team’s playoff seeding level.
While the MVP award will likely not get a name change, there are some welcome changes in the NBA we have, and we shall experience during the regular season, and during the postseason.
The regular season started December 22 since the finals ran up to October 11. This is the first pandemic-driven change the NBA should lock tight hereafter.
The NFL owns the entire fall, and baseball reaches its playoffs and peak (but paltry) ratings in October. I have not, in this millennium, watched an NBA game prior to Christmas when they feature blockbuster matchups from noon to nearly midnight each year. I’m usually watching NFL and college football.
We’re all accustomed to the end of the NBA regular season following completed action at or near the third Wednesday (this most recent hump day) in April. This year, the later start of the regular season moved the regular season finale to Sunday May 16. The association trimmed the number of games played from 82 to 72, but I find that to be wonderful, not consequential. Personally, I’m not really missing those ten games because so many players, even among the league’s elite talent, have been planning rest dates for key players throughout the season.
There is also a new play-in session launching the playoffs May 18-21 replacing the automatic qualification among the team with top eight won-loss records in each conference. This is another welcome change I hope will be a success: fewer games featuring poorer teams.
Six teams instead of eight teams automatically qualify for the first round of the playoffs. The teams in seventh through tenth place in each conference must play among each other to secure the seven- and eight-seeds. I won’t elaborate on the game-by-game process for eliminating two of the bottom four finishers.
The NBA playoffs will run from May 22 through July 22 this year. Does that bother anyone… readers? I love it!
It’s time to rename the NBA MVP award the “MVP Who Is Not LeBron James” award.
When LeBron James comes to a team, they get better. His last two seasons the Cleveland Cavaliers won 66 (league best) and 61 games, respectively. The following year when he signed with the Miami Heat, Cleveland slipped to a league-worst 19-63 record, earned the first pick, Kyrie Irving, and continued to struggle until her returned in Summer 2014 subsequently leading the Cavaliers to four straight finals appearances, one of them being the city’s first major sports title since the 1964 Cleveland Browns captured the NFL championship.
Those four consecutive title series run with the Cavaliers followed four consecutive title series appearances with the Heat (two O’Brien trophies earned among those four seasons). The heat, by the way, went from 54-28 to 37-45 the year James left, and that was with a good management/coach combination (Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra), Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
If you’re counting, folks, there are eight consecutive finals appearances between the two teams. This is Bill Russell stuff!
James was named MVP in the two seasons the Miami Heat were crowned NBA champions. Aside from Steph Curry, no other MVP award winner has, at the very least, advanced with their team to the NBA finals. Instead, the award has gone to anyone but James.
Who’s going to be the MVP Who Is Not Named LeBron James award winner this year? Who cares! The King will very likely contribute to the unfurling of the Lakers 18th NBA Championship Banner come late July, regardless of his team’s playoff seeding level.
While the MVP award will likely not get a name change, there are some welcome changes in the NBA we have, and we shall experience during the regular season, and during the postseason.
The regular season started December 22 since the finals ran up to October 11. This is the first pandemic-driven change the NBA should lock tight hereafter.
The NFL owns the entire fall, and baseball reaches its playoffs and peak (but paltry) ratings in October. I have not, in this millennium, watched an NBA game prior to Christmas when they feature blockbuster matchups from noon to nearly midnight each year. I’m usually watching NFL and college football.
We’re all accustomed to the end of the NBA regular season following completed action at or near the third Wednesday (this most recent hump day) in April. This year, the later start of the regular season moved the regular season finale to Sunday May 16. The association trimmed the number of games played from 82 to 72, but I find that to be wonderful, not consequential. Personally, I’m not really missing those ten games because so many players, even among the league’s elite talent, have been planning rest dates for key players throughout the season.
There is also a new play-in session launching the playoffs May 18-21 replacing the automatic qualification among the team with top eight won-loss records in each conference. This is another welcome change I hope will be a success: fewer games featuring poorer teams.
Six teams instead of eight teams automatically qualify for the first round of the playoffs. The teams in seventh through tenth place in each conference must play among each other to secure the seven- and eight-seeds. I won’t elaborate on the game-by-game process for eliminating two of the bottom four finishers.
The NBA playoffs will run from May 22 through July 22 this year. Does that bother anyone… readers? I love it!
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