LeBron should have been the MVP in 2006

[aj1987]

50 wins in the East back then was easy. It was the Heat and Pistons and that's it.

The West was pretty much the same?

Spurs, Suns, and Mavs. That's it.

[feyki]

Dirk got too much underrating back then .

Lebron had more first place votes than Dirk and even Billups .

Dirk should has been clear mvp . And then Kobe and Nash for #2 and #3 . And last Lebron .

[DMAVS41]

Dirk should have been MVP, imo, that season....

But sure, I'd take Lebron and Kobe over Nash as MVP that season as well.

Just a 27/9/3 59% TS 28.1 PER season for Dirk on a team he led to 60 wins without another all star or all nba player.

Not to mention that Howard, Daniels, Stack, Griffin, and Harris all missed significant time. Those guys were all top 9 rotation players and they missed roughly a combined 125 games.

That was peak Dirk being under-rated time in the basketball community...he was as good or better than anyone that regular season and definitely had the best MVP argument historically.

Given the criteria usually followed...I don't see much of an argument for Nash over Dirk that season.

His team won 6 less games and Nash had much worse stats.

People forget how great Marion was at that point of his career. I won't argue he was more valuable than Nash, but Marion was about twice as good as anyone on Dallas....and was a two way monster.

People just thought the Suns would be worse without Amare, but when you have a 22/12/2 defensive force in Marion to pick up the slack...winning 54 games in the regular season is just not impressive enough for Nash to win another MVP over the likes of Dirk that season.

[Nash]

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[COLOR="Blue"]Lebron achieves his APG by significantly lowering the APG and assist % of his teammates:[/COLOR]


[COLOR="Green"]Wade apg and assist % before Lebron (04'-10'):[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 6.6, 34.8% [/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Wade apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR] Lebron (11'-14'):[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 4.7, 25.5% [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Green"]Irving apg and assist % before Lebron (12'-14'):[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 5.8, 33.2%[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Irving apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"].....[/COLOR] Lebron (2015):[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 5.2, 25.0%[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Green"]Bosh apg and assist % before Lebron (04'-10'):[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 2.2, 10.5%[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Bosh apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR] Lebron (11'-14'):[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 1.6, [COLOR="White"].[/COLOR]8.0% [/COLOR]

[COLOR="Green"]Kevin Love apg and assist % in MIN:[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 2.5, 13.0%[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Kevin Love apg and assist % in CLE:[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 2.2, 10.7%[/COLOR]

[COLOR="Green"]Mo Williams apg and assist % before Lebron:[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 6.3, 30.0%[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Mo Williams apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"]...[/COLOR] Lebron:[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] 4.1, 20.1%[/COLOR]

FYI...

[COLOR="Green"]Pippen apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] Jordan 91'-93':[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 6.5, 24.5[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Red"]Pippen apg and assist % w/out Jordan 94'-95':[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 5.4, 23.7[/COLOR]
[COLOR="Green"]Pippen apg and assist % with[COLOR="White"]..[/COLOR] Jordan 96'-98':[COLOR="White"].[/COLOR] 5.8, 25.1[/COLOR]


It's bad enough that Lebron reduces his teammates' APG (playmaking), but he also increases their assisted rate (play-finishing)!!!... Therefore, it's statistical fact that Lebron turns teammates from playmakers into play-finishers.

Unfortunately, his teammates' predictable play-finishing roles don't work against the best playoff teams - since teammates are playing undercapacity, the TEAM plays undercapacity/underperforms (i.e. losing as the favorite in 2009 ECF, 2010 ECSF, and 2011 Finals, or losing when it was 50/50 - 2014 Finals).

That's the difference between 2/6 and 6/6.. MJ got the most out of his teammates (elevates teammates), while Lebron doesn't (he turns them into play-finishers).

Now the question is WHY SPECIFICALLY does Lebron turn teammates into play-finishers?.. The reason is twofold.
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Rodman before Jordan: 17 rpg
Rodman with Jordan: 15 rpg

Rodman before Jordan: 7 ppg
Rodman with Jordan: 5 ppg

Jordan made Rodman worse.

Ron Harper before Jordan: 20ppg
Ron Harper with Jordan: 7ppg

JOrdan made Ron Harper worse.

[feyki]

Rodman before Jordan: 17 rpg
Rodman with Jordan: 15 rpg

Rodman before Jordan: 7 ppg
Rodman with Jordan: 5 ppg

Jordan made Rodman worse.

Ron Harper before Jordan: 20ppg
Ron Harper with Jordan: 7ppg

JOrdan made Ron Harper worse.

Also , Ron Harper was all star level player before Jordan . And great two way player .

[Young X]

The voting should've went like:

Nowitzki
Bryant
James
Wade
Nash

I would rather Nash win in 2007 over Dirk than in 2006. Not saying he would've deserved it over him that year but the gap is closer in 2007.

Kobe had the most spectacular regular season but his team didn't win enough games. Can't remember the last time an MVP was on a 5th-8th seed.

[Lebron23]

Imagine that LeBron playing in 2020. His numbers would be much better

[StrongLurk]

Agreed, although it was a weak year for MVPS and Kobe was the best player regardless of MVP.

[Lebron23]

He was 3 points away from beating the 2006 64 win Pistons

Just watched that series again remarkable performance from a 21 years old.

[Whoah10115]

Kobe or Nash, and I'm not sure that LeBron was better than Dirk and Wade.

See. That's accurate.


LeBron was definitely worthy tho.

[Axe]

Bran would definitely get it if he's carried the cavs to 60-wins that year.

[ELITEpower23]

Lebron should have been the youngest MVP in History, Not Derrick Rose.


1st place: steve nash- 18.8ppg...10.5apg...4.2rpg...team record(54-28)

2nd place: lebron james- 31.4ppg...6.6apg...7rpg...team record(50-32)

3rd place: dirk nowitzki- 26.6ppg...2.8apg...9rpg...team record(60-22)

4th place: kobe bryant- 35.4ppg...4.5apg...5.3rpg...team record(45-37)

5th place: chauncey billups-18.5ppg...8.6apg...3.1rpg...team record(64-18)

That looks like Dirk's MVP to me.

[ELITEpower23]

On second thought do they vote MVP after the Finals? I wonder if Dirk's choke in 2006 had anything to do with the MVP floating away from him, and conversely I wonder if he won his FMVP in 2006 does he also win MVP. How does the timing work on the MVP?

[Lebron23]

Bran would definitely get it if he's carried the cavs to 60-wins that year.

Larry Hughes only played 31 game during that season.

[Axe]

Larry Hughes only played 31 game during that season.

Was he the second best player in that team