Who is the NBA MVP? ...Plus All-NBA broken down

LBJ MVP?

I have a formula for almost everything. When it comes to deciding the NBA's Most Valuable Player, a very simple (to me) equation works just fine. I multiply the player's Efficiency Rating by the actual number of minutes the player played. (The Efficiency Rating is: total points, plus assists, plus steals, plus blocked shots, plus rebounds, minus missed field goals, minus missed free throws, minus turnovers, all divided by number of minutes played). 


In combining the Efficiency Rating with the actual number of minutes played - we end up with what I feel is a trustworthy number to rank the potential MVP, All-NBA, and All-Rookie Team candidates. Too often - voters put increased stock into the "what have you done for me lately" theory. In such cases - the last month of the season is over-valued and voters tend to forget what was happening in the league in January, February and March. 


Our formula looks at the ENTIRE season, making it impossible to overlook Kevin Love's big games, Ricky Rubio's pre-injury impact, and Pau Gasol's consistent contributions. Our formula also knows no bias. It sniffs out the over-hyped, and credits those who simply "got it done". 

Durant is blessed

The results? It is really a two-man race for the MVP according to our formula. LeBron James beat out Kevin Durant to earn our vote (if we had one). The NBA asks voters to rank their top-five MVP picks in order. Kevin Love would be a distant third on my ballot followed by Chris Paul, and Kobe Bryant. 


The formula was tough on players who were "rested" with regularity during the regular season. Tony Parker, and Tim Duncan come to mind. In our opinion - despite the Spurs record, it is too hard to justify giving Parker and Duncan regular season honors. They simply did not play enough minutes to produce as much as the others who we gave the nod to. ...If Greg Popovich's "rest" deal really works - maybe those Spurs players will win their share of individual Playoffs awards. 


BasslineSpin All-NBA Teams: 


First Team: Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Kevin Love.


Second Team: Russell Westbrook, Dwyane Wade, Josh Smith, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum


Third Team: Steve Nash, James Harden, Paul Pierce, Blake Griffin, and Dwight Howard. 

Rookie of the Year: Kyrie Irving

You might wonder where a few names are. The over-hyped Carmelo Anthony was actually just the sixth best Small Forward this season by our formula. He came in behind, James, Durant, Pierce, Andre Iguodala, and Rudy Gay. 


Rajon Rondo - who NBA.com actually has in their MVP Ladder was no better than the ninth best Point Guard behind Paul, Westbrook, Nash, John Wall, Parker, Brandan Jennings, Deron Williams, and Ty Lawson. 


The results at Center included a top group (in order) of Bynum, Howard, Al Jefferson, Marcin Gortat, Greg Monroe, Marc Gasol, DeMarcus Cousins, Tyson Chandler, Joakim Noah and Roy Hibbert. 

Rookies Ranked


The results for the rookies looked like this: (we will list the top-15 in order by their formula total)

1. Kyrie Irving 894
2. Isaiah Thomas 755
3. Kemba Walker 738
4. Chandler Parsons 737
5. Kawhi Leonard 725
6. Kenneth Faried 670
7. Bismack Biyombo 657
8. Brandon Knight 651
9. Ricky Rubio 629
10. Klay Thompson 620
11. Derrick Williams 570
12. Marshon Brooks 564
13. Tristan Thompson 563
14. Iman Shumpert 546
15. Gustavo Ayon 537