MVP James, Heat keep perspective
MIAMI — The best part was no one oversold the good moment. Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra congratulated Lebron James, and told a story about James arriving to work first each day, before ending with the idea that more work was coming.
Dwyane Wade congratulated his teammate and said the day was well-deserved. He then added through a soft smile how he wouldn’t trade his 2006 NBA Finals’ MVP award for this regularseason MVP.
And say what you want about Lebron, as everyone always does, but he understood above anyone else how this was a defining celebration without being the definitive one.
He discussed being one of just eight players to win three MVP awards. He talked of the odds of making it here from the empty streets of Akron, Ohio. He called his teammates to the stage to share his award in a nice touch.
But when the question came of the Great White Whale still being out there, as everyone knew the question would, as everyone understood it must, Lebron pointed over at the award and put the day in context.
“This is not the award I want,” he said. “I want that championship. That’s automatic.”
He was not defensive as he said it. He was not angry. He was not animated. The tone of his voice was the same as you’d have while saying water was wet or sugar was sweet or some other long-accepted principle.
Of course he wants a championship — needs one, really, to confirm his place with the greats, especially after last June. But it’s interesting how so many people treat this as some sort of character defect, this rough climb to the top, instead of a common road to greatness.
In this manner, they’ll even use this MVP award against him if the Heat doesn’t win this spring. He averaged 27.1 points. 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists. He shot a careerhigh 53.1 percent. He led the league with a plus-474 points when on the court.
Those numbers merely graze his defense or how he was the most versatile player in the game. Spoelstra said he often ducked into the weight room where Lebron did
1 a daily workout 3 ⁄ hours before
2 a game and said, representing all five positions, “How’s number one to five?”
“He’d say, ‘ Whatever you need, Coach,’ ” Spoelstra said.
This doesn’t mean Lebron wins a ring this spring. It does mean you need a new sport if you didn’t enjoy watching him play basketball the past several months.
Heat President Pat Riley said he looked at the list of other players who are three-time MVPS for a common denominator. What he also noticed is he has a personal story about each of them.
“That sort of tells how old I am,” he said.
He was Wilt Chamberlain’s teammate. He played in an era with Bill Russell. He coached Kareem Abdul-jabbar and Magic Johnson. He has coached against Mose Malone, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.
“The one common denominator I felt that these men had was they were fearless,” Riley said. “They were fearless when it came to putting it out there night in and night out when a lot of us don’t understand and know what they’re going through.”
Only one other player in South Florida history has won a MVP award. Dan Marino did in the magical year of 1984. Perhaps, as much as anything else, that tells the kind of special season Lebron just played.
Marino didn’t win a ring, either. But football is different that basketball. A quarterback, important as he is, only plays half the game. And he’s one of 22 players on the field.
The real common denominator among the seven players who have won the MVP three times is they’ve won multiple titles, too. Few fans, for instance, know Michael Jordan won five MVP awards (I just looked it up). But most know he won six rings.
Saturday was a nice day and a good ceremony. But the best part was no one exaggerated the moment. Not his coach, his teammates or even his corporate partner, Nike.
“Three MVPS on his desk,” Nike put out in a congratulatory ad. “One thing on his mind.”