The NBA is changing the rules for who can vote for its MVP.
Team employed broadcasters, such as KNBR’s own Bob Fitzgerald, no longer have a vote to cast in the race. The NBA’s reasoning behind the decision is that there are too many player incentives tied to the voting to have subjective voters. Not to say Fitzgerald is biased at all, but there certainly are some local announcers who take things a bit far in their homerism.
Fitzgerald has no qualms with losing his vote, but does wonder how qualified the other 50-100 national voters are.
“It actually unfortunately has people who I don’t think know the league as well voting on pretty significant things,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday on the Murph and Mac Show. “The national thing, you know, six inches deep. If you work in the league and are with a team you’re 100 feet deep. You know it all.”
So is it going to be Russell Westbrook or James Harden taking home the trophy? Actually Fitzgerald thinks neither deserve it.
“Kawhi Leonard is the MVP of the league right now,” Fitzgerald said. “(Kevin) Durant or Steph (Curry) would’ve been heavily considered had Durant not been injured. But all the triple-double and scoring, Westbrook couldn’t guard his own shadow and doesn’t have any inkling to do so. For him to be the MVP would just be a travesty.”
On the season Westbrook has 39 triple-doubles. The Thunder are currently 43-33 on the year and hold the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. Westbrook’s stats this year: 31.4 ppg, 10.4 assists, 10.6 rebounds, 42.5 field goal percentage, 33.9 3-point percentage (a career-high). These are Oscar Robertson type of statistics.
Harden’s explosion has arguably been as big of a surprise. Mike D’Antoni’s offense has unleashed a more cerebral player who has become smarter on the basketball court. The Rockets are currently 52-25 with the third best record in the NBA. Harden stats this year: 29.2 ppg, 11.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 44.1 field goal percentage, 34.4 3-point percentage.
To Fitzgerald’s point, nobody thought the Spurs record (59-17) would be this good one year after losing Tim Duncan — and with an aging supporting cast around him. Leonard’s stats: 25.9 ppg, 3.6 assists, 5.9 rebounds, 48.3 field goal percentage, 36.7 3-point percentage. Leonard is also the two-time defending Defensive Player of the Year.