The Super MVPs

Super MVP: A player who wins both the NBA regular season MVP and the NBA Finals MVP award in the same season.

This article started in my mind several months before my fingers typed it out: it started with a discussion with my brother about the factors that define the legacies of the NBA's greatest ever players. As far as quantifiable measures go, a players' greatness can be determine by the championships he wins, the MVP awards he collects, and the statistics he posts up. Other factors such as all-star appearances, all-NBA teams, defensive player awards, and overall season/playoff games won also add to the argument.

Above all the other individual accolades that could be handed out to a player is the MVP Award. Since it was first given out to Bob Pettit in 1956, the MVP award - known as the Maurice Podoloff trophy - has been handed out 55 times to 29 players. Heralded to individual glory as this award may be, it does carry a sort of a curse with it (which I wrote about over a year ago): Only 20 times since 1956 has the NBA, MVP won the NBA Championship: only 12 players have lifted both trophies in the same season. Since Michael Jordan retired, only Shaq (2000) and Duncan (2003) have been an MVP and an NBA Champion in the same year.

Realising how difficult it is - and how much more difficult it is becoming - to win both these trophies in the same year, I have come up with a new award, handed out trademarked by the Hoopistani Blog: THE SUPER MVP. Since the 'best' player in the league, the Most Valuable Player, is thus most likely to also be the Finals MVP if his team wins a championship in the same season, this player would be that season's Super MVP.

The Finals MVP award was introduced in 1969, and in that very first year, it was handed to someone who lost in the Finals: Jerry West. West averaged 38 ppg for the Lakers in a 4-3 Finals loss to - who else? - but Boston Celtics! Since then, the subsequent 42 Finals MVP awards have always gone to a champion, a trend that I hope continues to make my Super MVP award relevant.

The year 1980 was also one other curious exception to the trend. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the regular season MVP and the NBA Championship with the Lakers in the same season. But the Finals MVP Award that year went to a rookie Magic Johnson, who, in Kareem's injury absence, did some things which were unfathomably incredible. Sorry, but that shifts Kareem's 1980 season out of the Super MVPs list, although he does make the lineup much earlier.

The 'NBA Finals MVP Award' wasn't introduced till 1969. In 2009, Commissioner David Stern announced that he is renaming the award to honour celtics' legendary Center Bill Russell by calling it the 'Bill Russell Finals MVP Award'. That is ironic, of course, because Russell retired in 1969 without ever having won the award. Beforethis award was started, there were only five instances in NBA History when a regular season MVP won the NBA Championship in the same season. Since these players were considered to be the NBA's best for that season, and they won a championship, I'm going to assume that they count as Finals MVPs, and hence, 'Super MVPs', too.

- 1957: Bob Cousy (Celtics)*
- 1961: Bill Russell (Celtics)*
- 1962: Bill Russell (Celtics)*
- 1963: Bill Russell (Celtics)*
- 1965: Bill Russell (Celtics)*
- 1967: Wilt Chamberlain (76ers)*
- 1980: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lakers)**

*Won an MVP and an NBA Championship before the Finals MVP Award was introduced
**Won an MVP and an NBA Championship but not the Finals MVP Award.

And here is my list of the NBA's Super MVPs after the Finals MVP award was introduced:

- 1970: Wills Reed (Knicks)
- 1971: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Bucks)
- 1983: Moses Malone (Sixers)
- 1984: Larry Bird (Celtics)
- 1986: Larry Bird (Celtics)
- 1987: Magic Johnson (Lakers)
- 1991: Michael Jordan (Bulls)
- 1992: Michael Jordan (Bulls)
- 1994: Hakeem Olajuwan (Rockets)
- 1996: Michael Jordan (Bulls)
- 1998: Michael Jordan (Bulls)
- 2000: Shaquille O'Neal (Lakers)
- 2003: Tim Duncan (Spurs)

It is an impressive and exclusive collection of NBA superstars. Michael Jordan makes that list four times, and Larry Bird twice. In two occasions, Abdul-Jabbar won the MVP award and the championship in the same season, but with different teams. And before the award was introduce, it's namesake Bill Russell had an incredible four seasons where he lifted both the MVP award and the NBA Championship trophy. As the last one to achieve this feat, Tim Duncan is the honorary holder of my Super MVP award.

The rarity of being a Super MVP is what makes the feat that much more incredible. There are too many players who have a good season to win an MVP award but never add the ring to their resumes: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, and Allen Iverson (barring his return to the NBA) are perhaps the first three names that come to my mind with the 'incomplete' legacy. A lot of former MVPs do on to become smarter players in better teams and win championships in later seasons, such as Julius 'Dr J' Erving, David Robinson, Kevin Garnett, and most recently, Dirk Nowitzki. Amongst the current crop of players, the likes of Steve Nash, LeBron James, and Derrick Rose are those who will be looking to add some championship hardware to their individual accolade.

Then, are are also many players who have never had a complete, dominating MVP season, but because of their team-play and/or their individual brilliance in the Finals, have won the championship and the Finals MVP award: John Havlicek, Rick Barry, Jo Jo White, Dennis Johnson, Cedric Maxwell, James Worthy, Joe Dumars, Isiah Thomas, Chauncey Billups, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker, and Paul Pierce are the names who belong in this category.

So what does all this say? Considered damn-near-unanimously as the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT), Michael Jordan has also achieved the perfect combination of individual dominance and team success more often that anyone else. And if we counted those before 1969, 11-time-champ Bill Russell equals Jordan's four 'Super MVP' seasons.

And as we await the possibility of the locks to be opened for the new NBA season, and as the predictions for the champions and the MVPs pour in, I'll be keeping my eye out to see if someone can achieve the difficult combination of the two. If someone can emulate Jordan, Bird, Duncan, or Shaq for one season. If someone can finally become a Super MVP again.

The Spurs are still here

There are a surprisingly low amount of San Antonio Spurs related posts, not only on this blog, but across on most blogs and websites around the global INTERNAATS (outside of San Antonio, of course). Somehow, the last decade's most successful basketball team (along with the Lakers) went by either hated, or at worst, unnoticed by most in the basketball world.

But the San Antonio Spurs, NBA Champions in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007, and contenders for damn near every other year, have once again sprung up from under the radar and are currently owners of the NBA's best 13-1 record, including owners of an incredible 12 game winning streak. Ask the casual NBA fan of the intriguing storylines of this NBA season, and he/she will mention the failing Big 3 at Miami, the chase for a sixth championship for Kobe in LA, the Celtics and their acquisition of Shaq, or Kevin Durant and the exciting young Thunder squad. And still, none of these teams have had a better start than the Spurs have.

Maybe it's because of their leader Tim Duncan, who has once again been the model of a quiet professional, getting it done year after year (after year, after year) without fanfare, hype, big shoe deals, and relatively lower global attention. Maybe its because of their coach Gregg Popovich, who has stuck with the same winning system, rated boring by half the world (and cheaters by the other half). Even the antics of Tony Parker and his Desperate Housewife or Manu Ginobili's incredible clutch talent/ incredible flopping talent have brought this team into mainstream attention.

Duncan recently became the Spurs' all time leading scorer, overtaking their other legend and twin tower, David Robinson. Duncan, known as T-Robot for his efficiency and lack of emotion (expect that he is programmed to frown at questionable referee calls), continues to cement his legacy as one of the greatest power forwards of all time. And yet, year after year, he continues to be overlooked.

But the Spurs are still here, and still winning. After getting swept by the Suns in last year's Conference Semi-Finals, Spurs have responded well with more of the same formula that has made them so successful over the past 12 years. Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili are once again getting it done, and are being supported ably by younger talent such as Richard Jefferson, George Hill, DeJuan Blair, Tiago Splitter, and the rest.

When the season began, I had predicted that there will be few teams who could really challenge the Lakers for the Western Conference Championship. The Spurs' fast start has made me doubt that prediction: I still feel that no one is stopping Kobe and LA from reaching the Finals again, but I don't think that the ride through the Western conference will be as smooth as I had earlier expected.

I spent much of the last decade cursing and fearing the Spurs - no matter what the scene around the league, you could bet that they would always be a threat to your favourite team. And here they go again. The best managed franchise in the league just won't go away...

Almost Michael... But Not Quite

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I remember, back in 6th Grade, my English teacher Mrs. Bona forced a great many, supposedly simple pieces of poetry on the class. I've never been a huge fan of poetry, but one particular poem by Shel Silverstein always stuck in my head, as much for its content as for its rhythm.

The poem was called "Almost Perfect... But Not Quite", about a girl called Mary Hume who goes through life finding little problems with everything that came her way. From the tablecloth at her seventh birthday party, to her boyfriend, to even heaven... Everything for Mary was Almost perfect... but not quite.

And if there is one player in the basketball world who wouldn't even be satisfied with anything but perfection is Number 24 of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant. Perfection in basketball is symbolised by Michael Jordan, and as much as Kobe continues to succeed, he will have to be content with being almost Michael... but not quite.

The world watched as Kobe Bryant captured his fifth NBA title yesterday. We watched as he won his second successive Finals MVP award. We watched as, for the second year in a row, the NBA champions were his team, not Shaq's, who led the Lakers and Kobe in the first three title as the beginning of the last decade.

If there was any question about Kobe's legacy as a top-10 player of all time, they should all be buried six feet underground now. Kobe is the greatest player of the modern era. Forget that LeBron James has been overshadowing him in the MVP battle, the real reason for Kobe's NBA existence is Championships, and he collects them like few others. These were his seventh NBA Finals, including his third straight. No matter what happens in the regular season, it is (almost) always certain that Kobe Bryant will be in the spotlight when it matters the most.

But despite his successes, his brilliance, his ability to always find a way to win, Kobe Bryant will never be the player he wants to be, or rather, the player he wants to be better than... Michael Jordan.

You must have heard the comparisons all before. The wagging tongue, the sweet mid-range jumper, the height, the position, the scoring spurts, the clutch shots, the fourth-quarter takeovers, the mean streak, the cold-bloodedness, the anger with which he motivates his teammates, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat... Kobe has so many things common with Michael that it's eerie. The world still remembers Jordan as the one player that rose above the NBA, above basketball. Jordan was transcendent, he was so damn good that he became bigger than the game itself. He was, and remains, the Greatest of All Time.

And then there's Kobe, the hungriest player in the league today, the one player who really as a shot at being the Greatest, both in terms of talent and success. He is the only today who can seriously start thinking about being the same heavenly company as Jordan. And his own personal strive, his ego, his ambition is so lofty that he won't rest until he becomes better. Until he becomes the best ever.

The only problem is that he won't.

Kobe will always be almost Michael... but not quite. On the basketball court, Jordan could never take a bad step, never a wrong decision, or at least that is what the legends will have us believe. Kobe on the other hand seems to be incomplete version of the Jordan legend, a slightly faulty piece of the perfect which works (almost) as well as the original. The Lakers are again favourites to win the championship next season, and Kobe may soon be the proud owner of as many rings as Jordan, but that won't make them equal... far from it.

Jordan was the undisputed MVP for his 6 championships - Kobe was Shaq's sidekick for the first three, and in the most recent one, no intelligent basketball mind would've been surprised if the Finals MVP had been handed to Pau Gasol instead of Kobe. As a matter of fact, Kobe had one of the least overwhelming Finals MVP performances of all time in this series. This is not to take away from his brilliance - it is to say that there is no chance that Michael would've struggled like Kobe did in the Finals.

With his fifth ring, Kobe has surpassed the two other biggest winners active in the NBA today: Shaq and Tim Duncan. He even dropped a jewel of a quote reminding us about it after Game 7: "I just got one more than Shaq!" Bryant said happily. "You can take that to the bank … You guys know how I am. I don’t forget anything."

Indeed, you did overshadow Shaq, Kobe. And what more, the player known as Black Mamba was his cold-bloodedness in clutch still has three or four years left of all star level basketball. With the brilliant supporting cast of teammates working with him, Kobe could easily bag up a few more championship rings. He will be remembered for being the most historic player of this era, with his championship rings, his winning mentality, those scoring spurts (he once had nine games straight with over 40 points, and once had five with over 50), and that 62 points in three quarters game against the Mavericks, and those 61 he dropped at the Madison Square Garden, and his Finals MVPs, and All-Star MVPs, and Olympic Final Takeovers, and countless game winners and clutch performances, and even that Slam Dunk Championship, and how he almost became the best player of all time.

Oh ya, and he once scored 81 points in a basketball game. See it to believe it:



But he will never be Jordan. By the time he retires, Kobe's legacy will lie competing to become, or maybe even becoming, the greatest Laker of all time, challenging the likes of Jerry West, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, and Magic Johnson.

Being the second-best shooting guard of all time? If Kobe could live with it, then that would be a spectacular distinction for his career. Only that he won't. As I said, Kobe is too much like Mary Hume, and until he overtakes Jordan, his career will remain almost perfect... but not quite.

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The Curse of MVP

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The most cherished individual accolade in the NBA consciousness is the Most Valuable Player (MVP) - more than All Star game appearances, more than All Star game MVPs, and perhaps more than the Finals MVP. Look at the list of former MVPs (and many, present and future Hall of Famers), and you will realise how much on an effect their performances for the given season have on the history of the NBA - Bob Petit, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, and LeBron James - just to name the ones who have won the award more than once.

Every year, the MVPs are discussed, argued, and the meaning of 'valuable' itself faces heated debates from across the basketball-speaking world. Is the best statistical player the most valuable? Is the best team player the most valuable? What about the best player on the best team? Or the one player whose absence in the team would make the biggest difference on the team's success?

My own definition of "valuable" in this sense is the one player whose absense would make the biggest difference in the entire standing of the league.

But here is the twist in the tale: the MVP award is given only for a player's performance during the course of the regular season, not the playoffs, and of course, not the Finals. That means, in today's NBA, the most valuable player over a maximum of the 82 regular season games that each team plays. Playoff/Championship success be damned.

Let's take a look at the list of NBA MVPs over 10 years, from the 1999-2000 to the 2008-2009 season. I've added the names of their team in brackets - next to the names are the names of the teams that actually won the NBA title that year.

1999–00 MVP: Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers) Champion: Los Angeles Lakers
2000–01: MVP: Allen Iverson (Philadelphia 76ers) Champion: Los Angeles Lakers
2001–02: MVP: Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) Champion: Los Angeles Lakers
2002–03: MVP: Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs) Champion: San Antonio Spurs
2003–04: MVP: Kevin Garnett (Minnesota Timberwolves) Champion: Detroit Pistons
2004–05: MVP: Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) Champion: San Antonio Spurs
2005–06: MVP: Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) Champion: Miami Heat
2006–07: MVP: Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) Champion: San Antonio Spurs
2007–08: MVP: Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) Champion: Boston Celtics
2009-09: MVP: LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) Champion: Los Angeles Lakers

Look at that list again - only in two seasons has the NBA MVP also lifted the Championship trophy - Shaq in 2000 and Duncan and 2003 - and the feat hasn't been repeated in the past six seasons. Now, there are two honourable mentions here, since Allen Iverson (2001) and Kobe Bryant (2008) led their respective squads all the way to the NBA Finals before losing it. Kobe did redeem himself and win a ring the following year. Most of the other MVPs didn't perform too shabbily (with the exception of Nowitzki and the Mavericks epic first round fail in 2007), but you get the picture - for some reason, in the 2000s, the MVPs of the year have rarely been champions.

Compare it to a decade before, where five of the 10 MVPs became champion, although four of those credits go to this guy called Michael Jordan (you may have heard of him!), who played six full seasons in the 90s, won MVP in four of them, and was NBA champion in all six.

So, is there a recent curse associated with the MVP award? LeBron James, deservedly, was voted almost unanimously as this year's Most Valuable Player, repeating last season's feat. But he also seems to be repeating last season's postseason failure. The Cavs were beaten by the Magic in last season's Conference Finals, and have been thoroughly dominated by the Celtics in the 2nd round so far this year. The Celtics have a 3-2 advantage, after winning Game 5 by a whopping 32 points, and holding LeBron to what was one of his worst games ever.

I think of the regular season and the playoffs as two different stages of the same game. Kind of like Super Mario Bros., where Mario can jump around in Level 1-1, easily squashing mushrooms and collecting coins, but has to step up his game when he has to battle Bowser at the end of World 8. And Princess Peach is the Larry O'Brien trophy.

Okay, okay, so I got sidetracked by a decade of childhood gloriously wasted on Nintendo. But anyways, you get the point. The playoffs are tougher, more gruesome, more physically challenging, and our hero faces more evil guys more often. MVPs like Iverson, Nash, Nowitzki, and LeBron who haven't won a championship, still have to conquer these demons to see the bright championship light, thus conquering their trophy/princess.

The Cavs have been the best team in the league the last two seasons, and LeBron has been their best player. He has pretty much been the best statistical player in the league for this period, too, and the one with the highest trade value, and the best team player, the one whose absense would have the most drastic affect on his team and the entire league.

And yet, here are the Cavs and their King, barely surviving against the dominant Celts. I read an amazing article on LeBron today, written by Adrian Wojnarowski, who complained that he has spent too much of his energy and motivation promoting himself as a basketball icon than a basketball winner. The regular season disagrees with this statement, but the championship counter doesn't lie.

LeBron has two more games to win to get past the Celtic stage, and then two more series to win to get to his Princess Peach. Can he survive the MVP curse?

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Mega Sports Summit in Mumbai next week

Aiming to create "a sports revolution in the country", sports and entertainment company SE TransStadia will be organizing a massive sports summit, the biggest of its kind in India, in Mumbai, from March 24-25. Amongst the several political and sport-related attendees from around the world will include members of the management board of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs.

Hey, I always knew the Spurs have an eye for great foreign players - Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Tim Duncan isn't exactly American, either (Virgin Islands, actually). Looking for the next big thing by making contacts in India already?

From The Hindu:

Talking about the initiative, Udit Sheth, MD and CEO of TransStadia says “Sport has ceased to be a vocational activity and has emerged as a billion dollar industry. We aim at bringing together a potpourri of global and Indian sports celebrities and administrators, under one roof to come up with ideas to transform Indian sports.”
He adds, "There is tremendous change in the way we look at sports in India. It is on par with any other industry. Innovative sports development events such as the IPL have clearly put sports in a pole position. Unfortunately, Indian sports is divided and fragmented and lacks collective thinking. We need to chart a new path and aim to do that by bringing in the best of talent in sports administration, government, people connected to sports infrastructure and the media on a single platform," says Sheth.

Aside from the Spurs management, other attendees will include Gujrat Chief Minister and World Class Choot Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan, President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Suresh Kalmadi, Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden, and representatives from the English Premier League.