The NBA has renamed its major postseason awards after all-time greats. What award would have been named after LeBron James if he wasn’t still playing?
Yesterday, the NBA announced that it is renaming a slew of its postseason awards to honor some of the league’s historic greats. Beginning this season, the league’s newly named postseason awards will be as follows:
- Most Valuable Player – Michael Jordan Trophy
- Player of the Year (new) – Jerry West Cup
- Defensive Player of the Year – Hakeem Olajuwon Cup
- Rookie of the Year – Wilt Chamberlain Trophy
- Sixth Man of the Year – John Havlicek Trophy
- Player of the Year – George Mikan Award
As noted at the time, naming the award MVP after Michael Jordan is a solid vote in his favor for any future GOAT arguments. But the league apparently wouldn’t name any of these awards after an active player, leaving LeBron James out of the game. Still, the conversation immediately turned to what the eventual Trophies could (or should) be named after LeBron.
Evan Turner jokingly suggested that if the NBA holds another edition of the Bubble Playoffs, the trophy should be named after LeBron. There have also been jokes about the NBA’s naming Executive Director of the Year Award after him (in honor of his ill-advised push for the Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook) or naming the NBA MVP of the tournament after him (which is where the Lakers seem to be headed this season).
But jokes aside, the question is interesting.
Jordan is definitely synonymous with the MVP award, having won five in his career. But Bill Russell also won five and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six. I think you could make the argument that Finals MVP would have been a more appropriate award now that Jordan has won six, LeBron is second with only four, and his 6-0 record in the NBA Finals is perhaps the most defining piece of his legacy.
LeBron has achieved so much in his career that if you had to pick one side, one specific piece of his legacy to highlight with his namesake trophy, what would it be?
What is the legacy of LeBron James?
There is a strong argument that longevity is the hallmark of LeBron’s career. He should tie Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most career All-Star selections this season with 19, and he will likely take that record and the scoring crown from Kareem before his retirement. He will probably finish third on the all-time leaderboard despite leading the league only once in his career. He made the All-NBA Team 18 years in a row. He has been to the NBA Finals for eight consecutive years.
He’s peaked like almost any player in NBA history, but what makes him so special is how many and how many different kinds of peaks he’s had — he’s led the league in scoring once, assists once, and three different times played in minutes. (With a 13-year lag between the first and second time I did it). He has played the first defensive team five times.
The point is, it’s hard to find a specific single-season achievement or statistical benchmark, the kind that would be honored with a trophy, that LeBron has owned over and over again. What made it so special is that it has been around long enough and with enough variety in its excellence that it has been able to check many different historical boxes.
It may seem like a sign of his legacy, and it can’t be summed up neatly with one trophy or award. But I love the idea that what makes LeBron special is that he could have won them all.
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More ugly fan behavior in Warriors vs. Bucks
On a Tuesday night in Milwaukee, Draymond Green got into the field with a Bucks fan, who was eventually removed from the arena. Here’s what you need to know:
- How it started: Early in the third quarter, it could be Draymond Seen back and forth With a Bucks fan sitting behind the basket. According to a deleted tweet from Bleacher Report, Draymond can be seen saying, “You’re not. … Explain yourself if you want to be heard.”
- slander: After a few minutes, Draymond stop talking With game officials and they can be seen pointing at the fan. Eventually ring security came and removed the fan from the ring.
- What was said: After the game, Draymond subscriber More on interacting with reporters saying,[He said] Some things threaten my life. I was really about to go back that far, dive all the way, but I just got back, I told the official. When I told the administrator what he said, he was like, “He should get out of here.”
Another MVP-worthy performance from Jayson Tatum
The Celtics got another massive performance from Jayson Tatum, holding off the Lakers on the road. Here’s what you need to know:
- Back and forth game: The Celtics led by 15 points at the end of the first half but saw a slump in the second half, eventually falling behind by 13 points in the fourth quarter.
- Jason Tatum was there to rally: During the final 4:25 of the fourth quarter, Tatum scored 7 points and added an assist to help erase that 13-point deficit and force overtime.
- Another incredible game: Tatum finished with 44 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal, shooting 15-of-29 from the field. It was his fourth 40-point game of the season and the Celtics are now 13-1 when he scores 30 or more points.
- His MVP status: Tatum now leads the league in minutes played with averages of 30.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game on a real shooting percentage of 61.1, all for the team with the best record in the NBA. The Basketball MVP Checklist Tracker It now gives him the fourth-best odds of winning, just behind Nikola Jokic, Luka Donic and Giannis Antetekounmpo.
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