Will AD get his first MVP Lakers?

[Professor Emeritus]

Lol at anyone thinking 1.1ppg, 1.3rpg, 0.3spg, or a 0.016 difference in shooting % should decide the MVP, especially when AD's ppg and fg% are completely reliant on the dunks that LeBron is creating for him on the regular.

LeBron is by far the better offensive player but AD is also vital on that end. AD is by far the better defensive player but LeBron is also vital on that end. Overall LeBron is a more important player because he is crucial to leadership and game management and the Lakers look lost when AD is on the floor but he isn't.

The Lakers will look to improve the non-LeBron offense

Coming into the Warriors game, the Lakers' net efficiency with James on the court was plus 10.7 points per 100 possessions, which would rank second in the league, according to data compiled by ESPN Stats & Information. With James off the court, that production plummets to a net efficiency of minus-2.6 points, which would rank 22nd.

Even the other Lakers make clear that LeBron is more important.

Cook cited ancillary reasons why the Lakers struggle without James -- "We get everybody's best shot ... You're going to get crowds that want to see us lose ... We have a big target on our back" -- before spelling out just what James brings to the table that they have to replicate.

"His presence. His IQ. Everything," Cook said. "His scoring. He's the best distributor in the league. So, we get easier shots when he's out there. And just his defensive communication; he's quarterbacking everything, letting everybody know where he needs to go. He can guard 1 through 5. And with the ball, he's just the best. There's a reason why he's the best."

Giannis has the MVP in the bag unless LeBron gets one of those makeup awards. LeBron will get 2nd, AD will be a good distance behind him like Harden and Luka and Dame.

 

[Sauce Dab]

Nah Greek going back to back. He got it locked up

 

[ALonelyDad]

I like AD over Giannis, AD is directly responsible for the Lakers turn around. What he gotta do to win MVP?

Watch the games, AD struggles to keep the Lakers lead without LeBron. Now it’s not fully his fault because rondo sucks but if you are so great you should be able to overcome rondo

 

[Professor Emeritus]

Here's the craziest stat. With just LeBron and no AD on the court, the Lakers are actually even BETTER than they are with LeBron and AD on the court together. But with AD and no LeBron on the court, the Lakers are hemorrhaging points to the other team.


Finding offense without King James

The Lakers scored 120.0 points per 100 possessions in Anthony Davis' 26 minutes Thursday at Golden State without LeBron James, outscoring the Warriors by 30.9 points per 100 possessions in that time. But for most of this season, Los Angeles' offense has dropped off with Davis on the floor without James.

LAKERS MINUTES OFF. RATING NET RATING
James & Davis 1,201 112.9 +10.2
Just James 683 115.7 +11.7
Just Davis 525 104.3 -3.7

 

[MostReal]

Watch the games, AD struggles to keep the Lakers lead without LeBron. Now it’s not fully his fault because rondo sucks but if you are so great you should be able to overcome rondo

I was just about to say, that's because the Lakers are guard deficient. All Big men need a guard or wing to setup the plays on offense. LeBron is about the only guy that can do that. Caruso is starting to perform better but you can't fault a PF for poor guard play. that's not his role.

Once AD is fed right the Lakers thrive and win, he's doing exactly what the role of Power Forward ask of him and more. AD isn't supposed to bring the ball down the court and run offense

 

[Professor Emeritus]

NBA.com: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.................8. AD
Forbes: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron........AD not mentioned
HoopsHype: 1. Giannis, 2. Harden, 3. LeBron, 4. AD
SBNation: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.......5. AD
Basketball Reference: 1. Giannis, 2. Harden, 3. LeBron, 4. AD
ESPN: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron..........AD not mentioned
Sports Illustrated: Giannis and LeBron are 1/2.......AD not mentioned


Literally everyone who has a list has LeBron in the top-3 and no one has AD in the top-3

 

[MostReal]

Here's the craziest stat. With just LeBron and no AD on the court, the Lakers are actually even BETTER than they are with LeBron and AD on the court together. But with AD and no LeBron on the court, the Lakers are hemorrhaging points to the other team.


Finding offense without King James

The Lakers scored 120.0 points per 100 possessions in Anthony Davis' 26 minutes Thursday at Golden State without LeBron James, outscoring the Warriors by 30.9 points per 100 possessions in that time. But for most of this season, Los Angeles' offense has dropped off with Davis on the floor without James.

LAKERS MINUTES OFF. RATING NET RATING
James & Davis 1,201 112.9 +10.2
Just James 683 115.7 +11.7
Just Davis 525 104.3 -3.7

AD is a Power Forward, you're asking him to setup plays and do things that is not entailed in his position. His job is to block shots, score in the paint, provide spacing, rebound and the leading in steals is even crazier when usually that's what guards do.

We saw what a LeBron no AD Laker team looked like last season, no playoffs. AD has this team rolling this year.

 

[Dwight Howard]

AD leads in most statistical categories and is a top 3 DPOY "but but assist and on-and-off...." gtfoh w that bullshyt

 

[CarltonJunior]

I like AD over Giannis, AD is directly responsible for the Lakers turn around. What he gotta do to win MVP?

Giannis is far and away ahead of AD breh. Its really not close

 

[MostReal]

NBA.COM: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.................8. AD
Forbes: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron........AD not mentioned in top-6
HoopsHype: 1. Giannis, 2. Harden, 3. LeBron, 4. AD
SBNation: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.......5. AD

Literally everyone who has a list has LeBron in the top-3 and no one has AD in the top-3

that's sad, AD is not receiving the credit he deserves, no way you lead a team in that many statistical categories and not get Lion's share of the credit.
NBA media needs to start paying attention to AD's work. This will not be good for team chemistry in the long run imo.

 

[Crude]

Lebron is still the best and most important player on that team.

Sometimes numbers can be deceiving.

 

[10bandz]

Watch the games, AD struggles to keep the Lakers lead without LeBron. Now it’s not fully his fault because rondo sucks but if you are so great you should be able to overcome rondo

Most of that blame has to go to rondo, if we had Zo I think we wouldn’t be bad at all while Bron sits.

either way I’ll give Bron the edge for now cuz AD been soft/underwhelming at times

Lebron is still the best and most important player on that team.

Sometimes numbers can be deceiving.

that’s the thing though, no one says “numbers can be deceiving” when Bron is leading in all stat categories. But when his teammate or a rival player has better stats here comes the juelzing

 

[Dwight Howard]

NBA.com: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.................8. AD
Forbes: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron........AD not mentioned
HoopsHype: 1. Giannis, 2. Harden, 3. LeBron, 4. AD
SBNation: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron.......5. AD
Basketball Reference: 1. Giannis, 2. Harden, 3. LeBron, 4. AD
ESPN: 1. Giannis, 2. LeBron..........AD not mentioned
Sports Illustrated: Giannis and LeBron are 1/2.......AD not mentioned


Literally everyone who has a list has LeBron in the top-3 and no one has AD in the top-3

The fact that AD is listed in the top 5 alone should eliminate bron off the list based off the KD/Steph criteria

Then when you factor in AD is a top 2 DPOY candidate....

 

[Professor Emeritus]

AD leads in most statistical categories and is a top 3 DPOY "but but assist and on-and-off...." gtfoh w that bullshyt

So when Kareem led the Lakers in points, rebounds, blocks, and FG% and was a dominant defensive player, should he have been getting more MVP votes than Magic? But Magic was ranked above Kareem in several on those years.

And that's especially hilarious because Kareem was averaging way more points than Magic and Magic was a shytty defender. Yet Magic STILL got more MVP votes than Kareem those years. Whereas AD barely averages more points than LeBron and LeBron is playing great defense.

The fact that AD is listed in the top 5 alone should eliminate bron off the list based off the KD/Steph criteria

Then when you factor in AD is a top 2 DPOY candidate....

So Kobe and Shaq were never top-5 MVP candidates at the same time?

So Magic and Kareem were never top-5 MVP candidates at the same time?

So Wilt and Jerry were never top-5 MVP candidates at the same time?

So Jerry and Baylor were never top-5 MVP candidates at the same time?

This has REPEATEDLY happened with the Lakers and you pretend to be a Lakers fan.

 

[10bandz]

This goes back to that thread yesterday about how Brons teams are so top heavy. nikka is on a team with no ball handlers besides himself and nikkas has that to make an MVP case. They Lakers don’t suck without Bron because Bron is just so good nikkas can’t function without him. We suck without Bron because we never got a real backup PG. So now that makes his MVP case look good but it doesn’t help the team cuz our depth is still fukked up