NBA

LeBron James Is Reportedly Your NBA MVP, Just Like He Should Be

Move those vitamin waters over and make room for a trophy: according to an AP source, LeBron James will be named the 2011-12 NBA MVP. It’ll be his third such award in four years.

Because he’s LeBron James, there will be some degree of controversy associated with his being named MVP. There shouldn’t be. He’s the best player in the NBA, and proved it again this season by averaging 27.1 points (53 percent shooting), 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game while adding 1.9 steals a night as well. He wreaked havoc on both ends of the floor with regularity, and if John Hollinger’s ratings are to be believed, he was the NBA’s most efficient player by a wide margin. If anything, the controversy should be over why he didn’t win the award last year, too.

So with the MVP out of the way, get ready for the talk about LeBron never having won a title to intensify. If the Heat indeed do not win the title this season, expect the talk to intensify even more. If the Heat do win the title and someone other than LeBron is Finals MVP, get ready for the talk about how he still can’t come through when it matters and got bailed out by talented teammates. And if the Heat win the title and LeBron is Finals MVP, get ready for talk that he’s never done it in a full season and this one should have an asterisk. Come to think of it, there might be some similar talk about his regular-season MVP, too.

Either way, it doesn’t really matter. LeBron won the award, as he should have – and as he probably should every year as long as he stays healthy. Ringless or not, he remains the NBA’s best player, and this year, he’s got the hardware to show for it. Time will tell if he adds to that collection.

AP photo, via