With the NBA season just over two-thirds complete, basketball fans can't help but ask themselves: Who will win this season's NBA Most Valuable Player Award?
In recent years, the MVP discussion has centered on "King" LeBron James. Last year, it was a two-man race between Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and King James, who then played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. James ended up winning in a landslide, becoming the 10th player in NBA history to win consecutive MVPs. At this point, it doesn't appear that LeBron will win his third MVP award — at least not until next year.
His numbers this season, however, should place him near the top of the MVP candidate list. He's averaging 26.2 points, 7.2 assists and 7.5 rebounds per game. He also recently recorded a triple-double in the NBA All-Star Game, putting him on a pedestal with Michael Jordan, one of only two players in league history to ever do so.
Nevertheless, several significant factors negatively affect James' chances of winning the MVP award this year. James plays for the Miami Heat alongside superstar Dwyane Wade, who many argue is more deserving of the award with a whopping 50 percent from the field and average of 25.5 points per game.
Due to the subjective nature of the voting system, the likelihood of James winning the majority of votes for the third consecutive season is small. Only Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal have won three straight MVP awards since 1969, while four players — Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Magic Johnson — have won the honor twice in three years.
Most notably, unlike in previous years, LeBron is faced with a plethora of competitors who have all embodied the meaning of "most valuable player." Of this long list of NBA stars, two stand out the most: Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls.
Derrick Rose should win this year's MVP award because he's essentially doing in Chicago what LeBron did last year in Cleveland — powering his team despite little to no help from his teammates.
The young point guard has been placed in a position where even one off day is unacceptable. For the most part, Rose has seemed unfazed by this pressure, averaging 25 points and eight assists per game. It appears, however, that the long NBA season is starting to take its toll on the third-year guard out of Memphis.
Rose's assists and rebounds have dropped in the last few games, and his increased scoring numbers are misleading because he has posted a dismal 38 percent shooting percentage during that span. Rose's dominant start to this season keeps him at the top of the MVP race, but Rose needs to perform much better in the final stretch of the season if he wants to take home the MVP trophy.
While Rose is beginning to falter, Howard may finally be reaching his full potential, and he has a great shot to take home this year's MVP trophy. Following Howard's 30-point, 16-rebound performance on Tuesday against the star-studded New York Knicks, assistant coach and NBA legend Patrick Ewing, who has also served as Howard's mentor in Orlando, explained how invaluable the big man is to the Magic.
"If we were to lose Dwight, we'd be at the bottom of the barrel," Ewing told the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday. "He's the MVP on this team. He's the most important player on this team, and he's proven it night-in and night-out, especially by the way he's been playing lately."
In the month of February, the center averaged 26.6 points, 14.8 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
If Dwight continues to play like he has while maintaining his 60 percent shooting from the field, expect "Superman" to beat out Rose and the rest of the league to take home his first MVP trophy.
