Each week sports reporters Matthew Lambert and Sam Thiel will face off on a hot topic in Minnesota sports. The world of sports is changing quickly and constantly, but we want to slow it down and take a better look at the juiciest gossip, scandal, rumor or issue that is making headlines this week in Minnesota. Lambert and Thiel will take different sides and battle it out, telling you why they are right.
This week’s topic: Who will finish second for NBA MVP?
Matthew Lambert / Winonan
Let’s face it, the MVP race in the NBA was over when Stephen Curry scored 118 points in three games to begin the season, making 13-26 threes in those games, en route to 402 threes on the season.
So it’s time to shift my attention to who, if Curry didn’t exist, would win the award. It’s kind of a cop out and useless, but so is debating if anyone but Curry deserves the MVP award.
The second best player in the league is none other than, a former MVP himself: Kevin Durant.
Last season, Durant played 27 games, so really he deserves Most Improved Player of the Year instead, but for this argument, MVP.
Durant had incredible stats this year, 28.2 points per game, a career high in rebounds with 8.2, and 5.0 assists per game. Pretty great right. Even his shooting splits were .505-.386-.898.
As the statistical nerd I am, I appreciate PER (Player Efficiency Rating) and EWA (Estimated Win Added).
Curry led the league with 31.56 for PER, the league average is 15, with Durant coming not far behind with 28.25.
For EWA, Curry led again with 27.6 wins, with Durant tying at fourth with his teammate Russell Westbrook with 22.8.
Imaging a world without Curry shooting threes from 35 feet away makes me upset, but knowing a guy like Durant would make a solid MVP choice makes me happy again.
Sam Thiel / Winonan
Last year, Stephen Curry won his first MVP. This year, Curry won MVP the moment he stepped on the court, averaging 30 points per game, breaking his own record for made 3-pointers again with 402 and joined the elite 50-40-90 club (i.e. at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line).
So excuse me as I use my own version of Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s On First?” sketch to determine the next-in-line for the MVP: instead of what’s at second, it will be who’s in second?
My vote is for a 6-foot, 3-inch, 200 pound, point guard with high-flying dunks and pre-game dance routines so choreographed he could win “Dancing with the Stars.” His name is Russell Westbrook.
This season, Westbrook was arguably the best point guard in the NBA, after Curry of course. The Thunder superstar averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 assists and 7.8 rebounds.
The statistic that somehow goes underrated, however, is the number of triple doubles. Triple doubles are important and Westbrook did more than the average amount. Westbrook recorded 18 triple doubles this season. Besides Draymond Green of the Warriors with 13, no other player had more than six.
With a formula of career-high stats, skills in the dancing department and his soon-to-be runner-up placement, make it 19 triple doubles for Westbrook.
