Can't Buy Me Love
By Dan Rodgers
This NBA season has two big names being talked about for the MVP race. Heat forward LeBron James and Bulls guard Derrick Rose.
Chicago is coincidentally tied for the two-seed in the Eastern Conference with the Miami. However, there is someone who is not being mentioned for the MVP and I think he should be leading the discussion.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is dominating the NBA this season and should be the leading MVP candidate.
Love: 20.9 ppg 15.7 rbp 2.5 apg
Rose: 24.6 ppg 4.4 rpg 8.1 apg
James: 26.2 ppg 7.5 rpg 7.1 apg
Love is leading the NBA handily in rebounds, and obviously he isn't going to be anywhere near the top in assists. I understand the Timberwolves (15-49) suck but they would easily set the record for the most losses in a single season without Love. He has a double-double in every game played in December, January and February. He has set the Twolves franchise record for most double-doubles and he is one short of the all-time NBA record of 51 set by Moses Malone in the 1978-1979 season.
I understand the Twolves suck and that will probably mean that Love won't even get consideration, but just consider what the guy is doing on a terrible team. He is shooting 47% from the field, 42% from three-point range (yes he can shoot long distance) and he is 86% from the free-throw line. I mean the guy gets double digit points and rebounds every game and does it efficiently.
All three of those percentages are better than Rose's and they blow James' numbers out of the water except FG% in which James is 2% better. That should mean something in the MVP talk.
So we'll see what happens as we approach the end of the season, but I hope Love destroys the record and wins MVP (and not just because he is on my fantasy team).
Rodgers That
