In 1975 back when players voted for MVP...a guy named Mike Bantom....

[Kblaze8855]

Got a first place vote. Mike Bantom was the 4th leading scorer on a 32 win Suns team. Sam Lacey and Sidney wicks also got #1 votes.

I noticed this when looking into the idea that media voting is the wrong way to do it.

Im not sure it can be done in a way that wipes out or even greatly reduces issues like voters getting sick of one guy, getting swept up in stories, and all the other things we complain about.

Something from a while back:


The same questionable shit happened when the players voted. Wes Unseld won MVP over Wilt/Reed...while being factually worse....due to a team turnaround when he wasnt his teams best player. Reported to the playoffs to get swiftly swept and outplayed by Reed. hes not even an all star the following year.

Not hating on Wes...just saying. The players get swept up in the same hype the media does. The old US basketball writers MVP had the exact same results as the players every year but one...when they gave it to Wilt not Oscar. The sporting News MVP was the same as the player voted MVP all but 2 years from the 50s to the 80s...once they gave it to Nate Archibald(Led the league in scoring and assists) instead of Dave Cowens. neither gave it to Kareem...who did 30/16/5 on a 60 win team. The other year they had it different was giving it to Bernard King instead of Bird and Bernard was second in the NBA vote.

It would be the same no matter who votes damn near ever year.

If its left up to you...how do you determine it?

A formula of some kind would wipe out the emotion but.....**** a formula.

Is there any group of people you would accept as good voters?

Not like the coaches have shown great talent in picking all D teams. Phil once said some of them hand it off to staffers because they dont even care. I suspect that wouldnt change were it for MVP.

I know you could never please everyone....but what would you try to make it better in your eyes?

[Real Men Wear Green]

There is no flawless formula but the best group to go to would be the coaches and GMs, with the restriction that they can't vote for their own guys. The coaches know who they have to gameplan for the hardest, who causes them the most problems on both sides of the floor, while GMs know who they want on their team the most and whose trade value is truly the highest.

[9erempiree]

Best player on the best team is the best way to go about it with less complaints. Also, by doing that it really diminishes the award. You can't have it both ways.

[K Xerxes]

All the coaches and GMs determine who is the best player in the league that year (can't vote for player on own team). Not 'who has the best story line' or 'who has dragged a bad team close to the top' or 'best player on team with best record. Just who is the best player, period. It would reduce the inconsistency in voting year in year out and at least we'd have an established criteria.

[Flash31]

They should do it by stats

best all around stats,along with top 2 team in conference and good record.

Base their stats on 5 things

all around
efficency,ts
rebounding
assist,turnover rate
points,defense against opposition

and there you go

top4 teams this year
MIA,SA,OKC,NY
Best players
LeBron,Parker,Durant,Melo

all around-LeBron
efficency-LeBron,ts-Durant
rebounding-Howard
assist-cp3,turnover rate cp3
points-Melo,Opposition-LeBron

look at the MVP Candidates,good record and some form of those 5
LeBron,Durant,Melo,pARKER,CP3

LEBRON WAS TOP 10 IN ASSISTS,very low turnover rate,top 5 in pts,57%fg
avg 7.5 rebounds,and had the best record in the NBA with his team the Heat having 27 straight and being 66-16

so he won

[Sarcastic]

If you base it only on stats, guys will stat whore even more than they do now. It's not good for the team concept. Players will end up playing more minutes than they should trying to boost their numbers.

[Orlando Magic]

I would like to see a combination of GMs, coaches and media.

And the votes of the coaches and GMs should be calculated in a formula to carry more weight than the vote of a media member. Perhaps something like 60% coaches and GMs vs 40% of the vote coming from the media. Maybe not that exactly, but some type of weighted system favoring GMs and coaches.

I don't know. There's no easy answer because people are just stupid.

[MavsSuperFan]

Its an unpopular opinion, but I am glad they let the sports writers decide. I think the results overall have been great. There have been only a handful of questionable decisions over the decades, and 0 decisions that have made you go wtf.

Players, coaches and GMs have all sorts of biases. Eg. Isiah thomas hated Jordan and got the other all stars not to pass him the ball. i doubt he would have been voting for him for mvp, no matter how deserving.

Between the options of players, coaches, GMs, fans or sportswriters, they made the right decision.

Also the more voters the better. It will help dilute the effect of stupid voters with an agenda.

[MavsSuperFan]

I would like to see a combination of GMs, coaches and media.

And the votes of the coaches and GMs should be calculated in a formula to carry more weight than the vote of a media member. Perhaps something like 60% coaches and GMs vs 40% of the vote coming from the media. Maybe not that exactly, but some type of weighted system favoring GMs and coaches.

I don't know. There's no easy answer because people are just stupid.

problem with coaches and GMs, imo is that they would be overly biased towards their guys. they watch their guys all the time and see all the hard work the put in.

Pop would be biased towards duncan and parker
Doc towards KG and Pierce
mitch kupchak towards Kobe.

[Orlando Magic]

Best player on the best team is the best way to go about it with less complaints. Also, by doing that it really diminishes the award. You can't have it both ways.

So you're saying your boy Kobe should have 0 MVP awards?

Let's base this on your criteria and do some revisionist history...

2013 actual winner... James... your system... James
2012 actual... James yours... Rose or Duncan
2011 actual... Rose... yours... Rose
2010 actual... James... yours... James
2009 actual... James... yours... James
2008 actual... Bryant... yours... Garnett
2007 actual... Nowitzki... yours... Nowitzki
2006 actual... Nash... yours... Wallace or Billups
2005 actual... Nash... yours... Nash
2004 actual... Garnett... yours... Jermaine O'Neal
2003 actual... Duncan... yours... Duncan or Nowitzki
2002 actual... Duncan... yours... Webber
2001 actual... Iverson... yours... Duncan
2000 actual... O'Neal... yours... O'Neal

So let's review... your system gets it right in... 2000, 2009, 2010, 2013. I think... your system is just flat out wrong. Thanks for playing.

[Orlando Magic]

problem with coaches and GMs, imo is that they would be overly biased towards their guys. they watch their guys all the time and see all the hard work the put in.

Pop would be biased towards duncan and parker
Doc towards KG and Pierce
mitch kupchak towards Kobe.

I agree but so are the broadcasters... make it so that you can't vote for the guy on your own franchise.

[Orlando Magic]

Its an unpopular opinion, but I am glad they let the sports writers decide. I think the results overall have been great. There have been only a handful of questionable decisions over the decades, and 0 decisions that have made you go wtf.

0 decisions that make me go wtf?

Shaquille O'Neal has 1 MVP award. Just since the year 2000... I go WTF over the following years... 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011.

[TheMarkMadsen]

So you're saying your boy Kobe should have 0 MVP awards?

Let's base this on your criteria and do some revisionist history...

2013 actual winner... James... your system... James
2012 actual... James yours... Rose or Duncan
2011 actual... Rose... yours... Rose
2010 actual... James... yours... James
2009 actual... James... yours... James
2008 actual... Bryant... yours... Garnett
2007 actual... Nowitzki... yours... Nowitzki
2006 actual... Nash... yours... Wallace or Billups
2005 actual... Nash... yours... Nash
2004 actual... Garnett... yours... Jermaine O'Neal
2003 actual... Duncan... yours... Duncan or Nowitzki
2002 actual... Duncan... yours... Webber
2001 actual... Iverson... yours... Duncan
2000 actual... O'Neal... yours... O'Neal

So let's review... your system gets it right in... 2000, 2009, 2010, 2013. I think... your system is just flat out wrong. Thanks for playing.


So you're saying Lebron failed to win a title in 09 & 10 when he had the best team? And Kobe won 2 FMVPS without having the best team in the league?

Never thought of it like that :applause:

[K Xerxes]

Following the 'best player' quota... MVPs since '90, IMO:

90: Jordan
91: Jordan
92: Jordan
93: Jordan
94: Hakeem
95: Hakeem
96: Jordan
97: Jordan
98: Jordan/Shaq
99: Shaq
00: Shaq
01: Shaq
02: Shaq
03: Duncan
04: Garnett
05: Duncan
06: Kobe
07: Kobe/Duncan
08: Kobe
09: LeBron
10: LeBron
11: LeBron
12: LeBron
13: LeBron

[Orlando Magic]

So you're saying Lebron failed to win a title in 09 & 10 when he had the best team? And Kobe won 2 FMVPS without having the best team in the league?

Never thought of it like that :applause:

I went on regular season records. The reason that I did that is simple.

Define "best team", if you would, please.

If you're not going on records, you're getting into the same exact debate that we have with MVP now and basically throwing it all to judgement.

I was trying to make a point. Guess you missed it.

[Orlando Magic]

Following the 'best player' quota... MVPs since '90, IMO:

90: Jordan
91: Jordan
92: Jordan
93: Jordan
94: Hakeem
95: Hakeem
96: Jordan
97: Jordan
98: Jordan/Shaq
99: Shaq
00: Shaq
01: Shaq
02: Shaq
03: Duncan
04: Garnett
05: Duncan
06: Kobe
07: Kobe/Duncan
08: Kobe
09: LeBron
10: LeBron
11: LeBron
12: LeBron
13: LeBron

I'm going to have to agree with you except I'm only giving Kobe 2006 and maybe 2007... definitely not 2008.

Solid list though. Real solid. Nice job.

[MavsSuperFan]

0 decisions that make me go wtf?

Shaquille O'Neal has 1 MVP award. Just since the year 2000... I go WTF over the following years... 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011.

by 0 wtf decisions i mean decisions with absolutely no justification.

You can justify that Iverson deserved it in 2001 and duncan the 2 years after.

[Suckafree]

Maybe send 2 representatives from each franchise to a meeting/conference at the end of the regular season. Either Gm's, Assistant GM's, Coaches/Assistants, scouts and even statisticians. Make it so that their is at least 60-70 voters as a whole.

They all sit around for a day or two and discuss/vote on every award. All NBA teams, dpoy, mip, mvp etc.

I'm not sure what incentive the league would put in place to make coaches and GM's actually care about attending these meetings but you'd have to make it worth their while.

Edit: I could see conflicts of interests occuring somehow though. Say, one GM says "you give player X your fist place vote and ill slide you a 2nd round draft pick at the deadline". I dunno, something like that.

[K Xerxes]

I'm going to have to agree with you except I'm only giving Kobe 2006 and maybe 2007... definitely not 2008.

Solid list though. Real solid. Nice job.

Thanks. Who would you give '08 to? Chris Paul? LeBron?

[Bandito]

Thanks. Who would you give '08 to? Chris Paul? LeBron?
08 its a toss up between KOBE or Paul. There is no way Lebrons win it.

[Orlando Magic]

Thanks. Who would you give '08 to? Chris Paul? LeBron?

Either or but probably LeBron.

[Kblaze8855]

I was trying to figure out where else id heard of this guy and I stumbled over an old ISH article.

Apparently Mike Bantom is now one of the most powerful people in basketball just from behind the scenes. Hes the VP in charge of the refs and the same for player development after he got a promotion from running international marketing.

Hes gonna go from stealing the least deserved MVP votes ever to the first black commissioner in like 15 years.

[ArbitraryWater]

So you're saying Lebron failed to win a title in 09 & 10 when he had the best team? And Kobe won 2 FMVPS without having the best team in the league?

Never thought of it like that :applause:

Its a regular season award, so obviously it rewards the statistically best regular season team....


gosh you guys... its like explaining simple logic to 10 year olds

[SexSymbol]

MVP is worthless, get over it.

[sbw19]

25% stats
25% team record
25% coaches/GM voting
10% players voting
10% media voting
5% NBA.Com poll

[PsychoBe]

the players value is often evaluated by how great his team is because it's hard to argue that someone is a valuable player on a below .500 team. it can work both ways as well, it's hard to say which player is valuable if your team is stacked with talent, but at the same time however, an mvp is evaluated on what they bring to the table for their team. when derrick rose won it in 2011, he was top 10 in ppg and assists across the entire league and as a result they won 66 games.

it's a regular season award, yet people love factoring in the playoffs and other things that dont matter.

[KG215]

25% stats
25% team record
25% coaches/GM voting
10% players voting
10% media voting
5% NBA.Com poll



Fan vote should NEVER even be close to a part of the MVP vote. It'd just be a contest between all the Kobe fans and LeBron fans in the world to see who could get the most of their fanbase to vote, and that player would get 5%. Those are, by far, the two most popular NBA players in the world, so if they were on the ballot they would win. And, let's say it was a year like this year where Kobe wouldn't have made the ballot because he wasn't worthy, then LeBron would automatically win that 5% of the vote...every time.

[I<3NBA]

Fan vote should NEVER even be close to a part of the MVP vote. It'd just be a contest between all the Kobe fans and LeBron fans in the world to see who could get the most of their fanbase to vote, and that player would get 5%. Those are, by far, the two most popular NBA players in the world, so if they were on the ballot they would win. And, let's say it was a year like this year where Kobe wouldn't have made the ballot because he wasn't worthy, then LeBron would automatically win that 5% of the vote...every time.
It's 5% not 51%. Moron.

[KG215]

It's 5% not 51%. Moron.
:facepalm

Right, and 5% of the total vote wouldn't be significant some years.

And I'm the moron.

[kshutts1]

I would just set some guidelines, and make them public. These are not examples of guidelines I would choose, but something like: Player must be from a playoff team. Prefer someone from a top 3-5 team, but a great story in the 6-10 range would suffice. Must average at least 20ppg. etc etc. Just legit, open, guidelines.

[ILLsmak]

Peers, I suppose, and it should be THE BEST PLAYER. Because, logically, the best player is the most valuable. When they take into account situation, they **** up.

-Smak