Reforming 'Finals MVP' to 'Championship MVP.' (Please read, Adam Silver)

[Naero]

The Finals MVP to some is considered the most venerable award bestowed to an individual. While the regular-season MVP is more purely individualistic than the Finals MVP currently is, the latter is held in higher esteem because it's the only individualized championship-associated accolade that exists.

It's been traditionally and predominantly awarded to the distinguishable leader of a championship team, but there have been anomalies wherein the leader was (supposedly) outperformed by a Finals MVP-awardee teammate, and thus their leadership en route to that championship was not recognized properly; see Stephen Curry for the most recent snub in that context. Such snubs lead superficial eyes into discrediting the team-leader's preeminent impact in taking him the Larry O'Brien trophy.

IMHO, unless the championship-leader is fairly indistinguishable, the team-leader should hoist up that Bill Russell trophy at the end of June regardless of a teammate supposedly outperforming them

[Marchesk]

The Finals MVP to some is considered the most venerable award bestowed to an individual.

Which is dumb. It's a 7 game stretch at most, and there are only two teams worth of players available to win the award. Compare to 82 games and everyone having a shot. And anyway, the award is always given to the a player on the winning team regardless of what sort of numbers any player on the opposing team put up (West being the one exception the first time the award was given out).

So it didn't matter what sort of stats Lebron put up (even if he had shot better it wouldn't have mattered). He was on the losing team. Golden State won not simply because of Curry or Iggy, they won because they were the better, deeper team despite Lebron's dominance. Golden State as a team was better than the team the Cavs had on the floor in the finals, and so the award was given to a Warriors player.

[Derka]

I'm sure Adam Silver is always here reading threads, dude.

[3ball]

Agreed... Just because Iggy helped GS get over the hump when he was inserted into the starting lineup, that doesn't mean he's more valuable than Curry..

Mosgov got Cleveland over the hump during the RS... Does that make Mosgov more valuable than Lebron?

Curry is still by far the most valuable player on that team and he should've been respected as such.. But oh no, the media had to kiss Lebron's ass, because they know nothing about the game.

[Marchesk]

I'm sure Adam Silver is always here reading threads, dude.

There is a poster who goes by the handle of Adam Silver.

[Marchesk]

Now which player was better:

Kawi Leonard with the FMVP in 2014.

Or Durant with the MVP ?

Durant was in another league. A top 20 all-time kind of league that season. Kawi had a strong finals showing along with the rest of his team. That was good and all, but it doesn't measure up to what Durant did in the regular season. Not remotely.

It would be like claiming that Bill Russell's 1962 finals was more impressive than Wilt's 50/25.

[warriorfan]

+1

Andre Iguodala wasn't the reason the series turned around, the decision to abandon the corpse of Bogut and go small ball was. Which player enabled the Warriors to go small ball with 3 defensive minded small forwards that struggle to score 10 points per game? Steph Curry. No other player could get the offense that Curry did out of a lineup of defensive journeymen with little to no offensive skills. Andre Iguodala benefited from Curry's double teams much like Scottie Pippen used to benefit from Michael's. Andre Iguodala didn't even hold LeBron below his playoff FG average. LeBron was sucking all playoffs with empty stats on low FG%. Andre Iguodala didn't hold him any differently than the other teams LeBron played in the east. Andre Iguodala wouldn't of been able to be on the floor if it wasn't for Steph Curry making up for the offensive deficiencies.

[SouBeachTalents]

They should just rename it playoff MVP, give it to the guy from the winning team who was better all postseason, as opposed to one series.

[sd3035]

It should be renamed the media hype award

[Dr Seuss]

I was always partial to "Lebron's matchup MVP"

[Sarcastic]

Anyone who thinks the FMVP is more valuable than the regular season MVP doesn't know sh!t about basketball. Every player that has won the MVP has made the hall of fame, even if they never won a ring (or they will make it). It's a free ticket to the hall of fame. The same can't be said for the FMVP.

[Hey Yo]

They should just rename it playoff MVP, give it to the guy from the winning team who was better all postseason, as opposed to one series.
But that one final winning series is the biggest stage of the sport. When players want to shine the brightest.... against the supposed best team from the opposing conference.

This way, in the future, if there's a less likely / prominent player who won a previous FMVP, people will want to see what he did to deserve it. They're more likely to watch the Finals, than having to take the time breakdown the entire postseason.

[SouBeachTalents]

Anyone who thinks the FMVP is more valuable than the regular season MVP doesn't know sh!t about basketball. Every player that has won the MVP has made the hall of fame, even if they never won a ring (or they will make it). It's a free ticket to the hall of fame. The same can't be said for the FMVP.

I don't disagree that MVP is more valuable than Finals MVP, but every Finals MVP besides Maxwell has made the HOF too. Although there's a good chance Iggy will be next for that distinction :lol. And hey, if Rose can't stay healthy he might not make the HOF

[SouBeachTalents]

But that one final winning series is the biggest stage of the sport. When players want to shine the brightest.... against the supposed best team from the opposing conference.

This way, in the future, if there's a less likely / prominent player who won a previous FMVP, people will want to see what he did to deserve it. They're more likely to watch the Finals, than having to take the time breakdown the entire postseason.

Agreed 100%. The casual fans will come in droves to watch Iggy play 25 mpg in the first round

[Hey Yo]

Anyone who thinks the FMVP is more valuable than the regular season MVP doesn't know sh!t about basketball. Every player that has won the MVP has made the hall of fame, even if they never won a ring (or they will make it). It's a free ticket to the hall of fame. The same can't be said for the FMVP.
That's because most MVP's had very good / standout college careers which is taken into consideration when voting.

It's why is called the Basketball HOF and not NBA HOF.

Look at Bill Walton's injury riddled NBA career.

2

[Doranku]

Anyone who thinks the FMVP is more valuable than the regular season MVP doesn't know sh!t about basketball. Every player that has won the MVP has made the hall of fame, even if they never won a ring (or they will make it). It's a free ticket to the hall of fame. The same can't be said for the FMVP.

There's not a chance that Derrick Rose makes the HoF.

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Playoff MVP sounds cool, but I also think its fine the way it is now.

You don't need another award telling you who the best player in said postseason was. Cornbread Maxwell got a FMVP over Bird in '81, but nobody thought he was better in the playoffs (assuming they aren't trolls).

A guy killing it in the Finals, when the lights are at their brightest, deserves serious acclaim and adoration. Lots of undeserved candidates there too, but no different than your regular-season MVP.

[dhsilv]

\While the regular-season MVP is more purely individualistic than the Finals MVP currently is, the latter is held in higher esteem because it's the only individualized championship-associated accolade that exists.


That opinion has NEVER been held by any serious sports fan in the history of sports, that's so absurd I don't even know what to say.........

[Sarcastic]

There's not a chance that Derrick Rose makes the HoF.

That's only because he got injured, and his career is not over yet. Pre injury, his trajectory had him as a first ballot HOFer.

Jo Jo White only got in due to sympathy. Cedric Maxwell will never get in. Chauncey Billups is a maybe, probably a most likely. Kawhi Leonard, who knows. Iggy, probably not unless sympathy again.

Hypothetical: Kawhi injures himself the same as Rose. Who's had the better career?

[SouBeachTalents]

That's only because he got injured, and his career is not over yet. Pre injury, his trajectory had him as a first ballot HOFer.

Jo Jo White only got in due to sympathy. Cedric Maxwell will never get in. Chauncey Billups is a maybe, probably a most likely. Kawhi Leonard, who knows. Iggy, probably not unless sympathy again.

Hypothetical: Kawhi injures himself the same as Rose. Who's had the better career?

If they both never played full strength again? I think it'd be a close debate, at least in terms of accolades/accomplishments. Rose has his MVP and has made one All-NBA Team, while Kawhi won Finals MVP, DPOY, and has made two All-Defensive Teams

[ClipperRevival]

[QUOTE=Naero]The Finals MVP to some is considered the most venerable award bestowed to an individual. While the regular-season MVP is more purely individualistic than the Finals MVP currently is, the latter is held in higher esteem because it's the only individualized championship-associated accolade that exists.

It's been traditionally and predominantly awarded to the distinguishable leader of a championship team, but there have been anomalies wherein the leader was (supposedly) outperformed by a Finals MVP-awardee teammate, and thus their leadership en route to that championship was not recognized properly; see Stephen Curry for the most recent snub in that context. Such snubs lead superficial eyes into discrediting the team-leader's preeminent impact in taking him the Larry O'Brien trophy.

IMHO, unless the championship-leader is fairly indistinguishable, the team-leader should hoist up that Bill Russell trophy at the end of June regardless of a teammate supposedly outperforming them

[ClipperRevival]

Now which player was better:

Kawi Leonard with the FMVP in 2014.

Or Durant with the MVP ?

Durant was in another league. A top 20 all-time kind of league that season. Kawi had a strong finals showing along with the rest of his team. That was good and all, but it doesn't measure up to what Durant did in the regular season. Not remotely.

It would be like claiming that Bill Russell's 1962 finals was more impressive than Wilt's 50/25.

What does one have to do with the other? Durant won mvp and rightfully so. History will remember his great 2014 season. Leonard played well in the finals and got the award. It wasn't a dominant performance but good enough where him getting it wasn't an outrage.

[Bankaii]

This isn't a horrible idea, but the current system is fine.
The entire playoffs is not played for a chance to compete in the Finals. The Finals basically decides people's perception of a player's entire playoffs.
2004 Kobe was having a decent playoffs but people call that entire year shit because of his horrible Finals.
2011 Lebron was having a great playoffs both offensively and defensively but the only thing ever brought up is his Finals choke.
Curry had a great playoffs andno one will discredit that but Iggy had the greatest impact in the Finals.
Truth is people only care about the Finals, and even a legendary season will be poisoned by a bad Finals.

[GimmeThat]

have you seen the "Coach of the Year" awards list?

have people been upset with the notion that sometimes you don't need to bring something new to the table in order to win?

people get credited from coming up with a new formula/formation/idea, but it is those who knows when/who/where and how to utilize them that produces the ultimate result.


perhaps basketball is different than other sports, but if giving the award to the most important person on the team, instead of the person who went beyond the call of duty at the biggest stage of the game changes everything.

then, I suppose even the most simple plays of the alleyoops means nothing.

someone should make a highlights of alleyoops and that ought to justify why not the best player on the team wins the finals MVP on the championship stage consistently.


how many players doesn't get influenced by others? the media? the pressure?

by the opponent?

even the other team sets the tone that we are not going to beat by your best player, but by the rest of your team, somehow the ball still has to go through the best player's hand in order for the team to produce the result it seeks.



unfortunately for all of us, the size of the basketball court, and the players allowed to be on the field all at once hasn't changed since what is considered to be the modern day of this sport.

[SCdac]

Still surprised Curry didn't win the award. It was clearly his, imo, regardless of the raw stats. Even from a marketing perspective - it just made sense. When Kawhi won it the season prior, it again made sense imo. New blood on the Spurs rising to the occasion surrounded by veterans who've all gotten their awards and accolades already. But Iggy? idk

[Adam Silver]

I'm sure Adam Silver is always here reading threads, dude.

I do.

[Coach Eddie]

Still surprised Curry didn't win the award. It was clearly his, imo, regardless of the raw stats. Even from a marketing perspective - it just made sense. When Kawhi won it the season prior, it again made sense imo. New blood on the Spurs rising to the occasion surrounded by veterans who've all gotten their awards and accolades already. But Iggy? idk

I thought he earned it too. Unfortunately, voters want interesting stories, so they voted Iggy stepping up and for LeBron to potentially win on the losing team. However, Curry completed disrupted the Cavs offense, which was the reason Iggy was even to score as much as he did (which wasn't even that much).