Comments on: In a Box: The NBA MVP Award

By: LeBron23MVP

LeBron23MVP — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:00:37 +0000

LeBron is the best player in the NBA, and he's going to win his first MVP this year because he have the 3rd highest PER in NBA History.

By: penbeast

penbeast — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:06:01 +0000

E took the Rockets from a dog-poor confused expansion team to a .439 record . . . Unseld took a .439 team to the league's best record. It's a lot harder to make the second jump.

By: penbeast

penbeast — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 01:02:45 +0000

Why Unseld as MVP? . . . the year before he came, the Bullets were the worst team in the Eastern Conference despite Earl Monroe. His rookie year, they had the best record in the league with pretty much the same personnel and coach despite losing Gus Johnson for half the season. The difference? Defense . . . (probably not attributable to Earl Monroe). I think it's pretty reasonable . . . similar to Walton's impact in Portland in his one healthy year which wassn't just about raw numbers.

By: Keith Ellis

Keith Ellis — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:01:45 +0000

Not to pile on, but in defense of AYC, Wilt Chamberlain adjudged the Unseld MVP a farce & considered Cowens a fearsome rival as a running Center for the '73 Celtics. Cowens was the Center Wilt least wanted to face. In '69 rookie sensation Elvin Hayes led the expansion Rockets to greater improvement in Wins than Unseld did for the better-established Bullets. Ironman Big E was League Leader in Minutes & Points, back when standardized stats-per-minute were given short shrift next to total production-per-season. Hayes' leading the league in Rebounds the following year placed him w/ Haywood & Chamberlain as the only pros to attain such laurels by his sophomore season. Thus if Elvin didn't deserve MVP over Unseld, despite being a better Defender (two All-NBA 2nd teams) & Offender, surely Dipper did by fitting in w/ West & Baylor, outrebounding Unseld by 200 boards, scoring 20 ppg, & shooting a hundred points higher FG%.

By: bob mcadoo

bob mcadoo — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:33:31 +0000

even though im a celtics fan I do think bob mcadoos mvp season was much better than kgs

By: DWarner

DWarner — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:58:33 +0000

Nice piece. Gotta agree with AYC on the Unseld issue however...Cowens season does seem superior statistically and in the context of the time more appropriate. With the 68 W's it was strongly held belief that Boston would go on to the title that season so it seemed justifiable that the most valuable Celtic get recognition. Hondo was the veteran leader but I think he recognized Cowens value in the middle. On the other hand you have to wonder if the young,dynamic Monroe, and the other productive veterans on the squad couldn't help but feel slighted when the rookie of the team gets greater acknowledgment that they did. Wes Unseld was a tenacious, under-sized yet over-achieving rebounding, who may have thrown the greatest outlet passes in NBA history, but his MVP in '69 does appear to have been a little shaky...

By: Justin Kubatko

Justin Kubatko — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:57:22 +0000

AYC, I'm not convinced that Monroe was the best player on that Bullets team, and if he was it's certainly not as clear-cut as you make it out to be. Also note that Unseld was first team All-NBA in 1968-69, but Cowens was second team All-NBA in 1972-73. But that's fine, we can agree to disagree.

By: AYC

AYC — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:44:33 +0000

I get it, but I'm not sure I buy it; yes, '69 was a weak year for MVP candidates. Superstars like Wilt, Russell and Oscar had disappointing teams, while the good teams didn't have dominant stars. But Unseld was still a terrible choice, based on his stats, and the fact that he was nowhere near being the best player at his position, or on his own team. Reed, Monroe and Billy Cunningham were the best choices from good teams. It's worth noting that Cowens played exceptionally well against Kareem, besting his Bucks in the 74 finals. Archibald put up his stats on a terrible team; point guards on bad teams always put up inflated stats. So based on your criteria, I still think Unseld was the worse selection

By: Justin Kubatko

Justin Kubatko — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:35:01 +0000

AYC, I didn't mean Cowens had the worst season of any MVP, but rather, given the other choices available, I think he was the worst selection. I hope that makes sense.

By: AYC

AYC — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:35:10 +0000

Dave Cowens is a worse MVP than Unseld?!?

WU: 13.8 ppg, 18.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, .476 fg%, .605 ft%, 57 wins, 82g
DC: 20.5 ppg, 16.2 rpg, 4.1 apg, .452 fg%, .779 ft%, 68 wins, 82g

Who had the better year, again? Yes, Hondo was better than Cowens; but Unseld wasn't the best player on his team either, Earl Monroe was. DC's MVP year compares favorably to Willis Reed's and Bill Walton's:

WR: 21.7 ppg, 13.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, .507, .756, 60 wins, 81g
BW: 18.9 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 5.0 apg, .522, .720, 58 wins, 58g

Cowens is one of the most underrated centers of all time; he was better than Reed, he just didn't play in NYC.