MVP: Rose vs. LeBron

I will start this post by stating I have zero allegiance to the current front runners in the 2010-2011 NBA MVP race.  Derrick Rose, point guard of the Chicago Bulls, is this year’s probable NBA MVP.  I do acknowledge that the accomplishments Rose has achieved this season have been MVP worthy and if I had a vote it would go to him. But is he truly the league’s most valuable player?  Is Derrick Rose having the best individual season in the NBA?  Or is Derrick Rose just the most electrifying player on the best team in an extremely top heavy Eastern Conference?

Before looking at the numbers I was convinced that Derrick Rose was this year’s Most Valuable Player, hands down.  He has done the unthinkable by helping his team to the top seed in a conference where the media didn’t choose Chicago to win, but rather Miami, Boston and New York.  He has taken the team he inherited to heights analysts only thought possible for two teams:  Miami and Boston.  Both those teams currently trail the Chicago Bulls by 3 games. But is that the definition of MVP?

LeBron James is averaging 27 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game.  He is outperforming Rose in every one of those statistics, with the exception of assists, which Rose leads by just one per game.  Last I checked, that's expected out of a point guard.  LeBron has the size and ability to guard any position from point guard to power forward and the skill to play any of them on the offensive end.  Isn’t that value?  He is currently 12^th in the NBA in assists as a small forward and Rose is 10^th as his teams quarterback.  LeBron is 2^nd in the NBA in scoring and plays with two other superstars.  The one stat I believe really symbolizes value is the plus/minus statistic.  Plus/minus is a statistic that evaluates how your team performs with you on and off the court.  No team plays worse without their star player than the Miami Heat without LeBron.  So what exactly is Derrick Rose’s value over LeBron? Is it public perception? Was it the “decision?” Perhaps voter fatigue? One thing is certain, for some reason no one wants to state the obvious, LeBron James should be this year’s NBA MVP.

-Jae Pierce