Kawhi deserves to enter the MVP conversation

[Real Men Wear Green]

Case in point. They lost a game and all of a sudden they are not 1st but 4th. Are they any worse than they were yesterday? Obviously not.

Q.E.D.

It may seem silly to you, someone else and a lot of other people but that logic makes Tatum the MVP so I'm all for it.

[basketballcat]

Case in point. They lost a game and all of a sudden they are not 1st but 4th. Are they any worse than they were yesterday? Obviously not.

Q.E.D.

Wow, losing a game is bad for standings.

No sh**, Sherlock.

[Stephonit]

Was Steph disqualified when he had an All NBA teammate and 2 players in the All Defensive team?

Kawhi has an All Star reserve teammate. Giannis has an All Star starter. Tatum has an All Star teammate as well. Same with Durant, LeBron, and A Edwards.

If anything, it can be argued that Kawhi is the type of franchise player than enables others to fit in. Harden's production is lower in LAC than in PHI and BRK. Yet it clicks in LAC.

What did Steph's teammates accomplish without him? In comparison Harden was an MVP and Paul George third in MVP voting without Kawhi.

[elementally morale]

Case in point. They lost a game and all of a sudden they are not 1st but 4th. Are they any worse than they were yesterday? Obviously not.

Q.E.D.

I am and have always been against the idea that standings should have a big effect on the MVP selection. It is as silly as the idea that number of rings is to determine the better player. I'd give the MVP to the player that played the best and had the most impact on the most games in the regular season.

[elementally morale]

Wow, losing a game is bad for standings.

No sh**, Sherlock.

Interesting. I said Kawhi deserves to be in the race but NOT because of the team being zero games above the other teams while playing less games and being #1 on a technicality (for like a day or so). According to your logic, Kawhi is less deserving now. According to mine he is just as deserving as he was 2 days ago. Yet you are the one fighting for him.

[basketballcat]

What did Steph's teammates accomplish without him? In comparison Harden was an MVP and Paul George third in MVP voting without Kawhi.

Harden was MVP when dinosaurs still roamed Earth. PG came 3rd in MVP when Jesus was still alive.

What they are in 2023-2024 is what matters. PG is an All Star reserve, backing up Kawhi. Same setup with several teams.

Steph had a stacked team on the year he won MVP. If they didn't win 73 games, Kawhi would probably have an MVP by now.

[basketballcat]

Interesting. I said Kawhi deserves to be in the race but NOT because of the team being zero games above the other teams while playing less games and being #1 on a technicality (for like a day or so). According to your logic, Kawhi is less deserving now. According to mine he is just as deserving as he was 2 days ago. Yet you are the one fighting for him.

Kawhi is less deserving now because they lost a game. Still an MVP contender, but less deserving.

Winning and losing games matter. Obviously.

[aj1987]

Clippers are now within half a game of the Western Conference top seed.

Kawhi is 20th in ppg. Only 3 of the players ahead of him have a better team record. Kawhi is not a volume scorer, he prefers efficient scoring. Of the players ahead of him in ppg, only 3 have better FG% (Cs excluded, as they typically have very high ppgs). Kawhi has been shooting 45.1% from 3. Of the top 20 scorers, nobody else comes close in 3pt%. Curry, on his very best season, shot 45.5% from 3.

Kawhi is also playing elite defense. 4th in steals. Only 1 player ahead in spg has a better team record.

Kawhi should definitely be in the top 5 in the MVP race. Maybe even as high às #3.

Jokic & Shai are really the only players that are clearly ahead of him.

He's been good, but not elite.

[basketballcat]

He's been good, but not elite.

Literally only 3 players have more steals. That's way above just "good".

[Xiao Yao You]

Literally only 3 players have more steals. That's way above just "good".

if steals meant anything. Could just mean you're gambling a lot

[basketballcat]

if steals meant anything. Could just mean you're gambling a lot

Except that's not Kawhi. He literally won 2 DPOYs. Led defenses that slowed down Giannis and LeBron.

[Xiao Yao You]

Except that's not Kawhi. He literally won 2 DPOYs. Led defenses that slowed down Giannis and LeBron.

yeah but steals aren't why he's great

[basketballcat]

yeah but steals aren't why he's great

He literally led the league in steals in one of his DPOY years. But of course, his defensive game is a lot more than steals.

[aj1987]

Literally only 3 players have more steals. That's way above just "good".

AI led the league in steals 3 times.

[basketballcat]

AI led the league in steals 3 times.

How many DPOYs does AI have? How many times has AI led defenses on players like Giannis?

Payton led the league in steals.

There are players where steals is a meaningless stat. There are players where steals mean something. Anyone who knows anything about basketball knows which group Kawhi belongs to.