With the playoff push heating up in the march to April, so is the NBA’s regular season MVP race. While the OKC Thunder’s Russell Westbrook was out with a knee injury before the NBA All Star break, Kevin Durant was getting pretty much any shot he wanted which dramatically increased his scoring average. Now, LeBron James is getting those same looks.
Unless you’ve been living under rock the past few days, Miami Heat forward LeBron James scored a career high 61 Points against the Charlotte Bobcats. It seems that ever since James broke his nose against the Thunder and has been wearing that protective mask, he’s been playing with a mega chip on his shoulder and out of his mind. Protective masks also seem to be a friend to James. According to a tweet provided by ESPN SportsCenter over the weekend, James averaged 26.4 PPG in 16 games while wearing a protective mask during 2004-05 season as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
So who will get the MVP?
“They will use each other at the end of the season for who’s going to be MVP,” Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade told The Source. “Will it be one of those guys it’s no secret about it.”
By the way, in that game on Monday against the Bobcats, James had 5 assists, 7 rebounds and had 8 made three-pointers. Tally all of that up and put it in a to go bag, James shot 22 for 23 from the field which is a whopping 66.7%.
But enough about his stats and career records, lets talk about some cool stuff.
LeBron James addressing media after the 2014 NBA All Star Game (Photo Credit: Eric Salvary/Salvary Media)
The Source: How much do you think the league is going to change with the new NBA commissioner Adam Silver?
LeBron James: Well that’s for us to figure out But I think Adam is open to a lot of the things that not only the players but the owners are trying to accomplish. I think he’s the right man for the job and I look forward to being apart of why he’s around.
The Source: LeBron, obviously we all saw the video on YouTube of you dunking in practice in Phoenix. I talked to Dwight Howard who said that there is no creativity in the Slam Dunk Contest anymore. What would it take for you to actually want to compete in it?
LeBron James: I don’t know. Probably nothing. Nothing really. I just don’t think that it’s something that I want to accomplish in my career. It’s not a goal of mine. It never was coming into the NBA to be apart of the dunk contest. Making the All Star team was, being league MVP, winning Defensive Player of the Year, winning a championship—those were some goals of mine. Being in the dunk contest was never a goal of mine. So it’s not something that I have too much passion for.
The Source: Is Kevin Durant in the conversation of elite players currently in the league?
LeBron James: KD’s been in the conversation. All of us have been in the conversation, that’s what this league is about. It’s not a one man show. It’s myself, Kobe, KD, Melo, CP3, Blake Griffin, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade. I can continue to name names: Kevin Love and Dirk Nowitzki. So it’s never been a one man show. The list is so great, that’s why it’s the greatest sport in the world because you have so many guys who do so many special things. We’re all trying to represent our respective team, where we’re from and our names to the utmost respect.
Check out the highlights from LeBron James’ epic night on Monday.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD-67jlsY9I
