Who will become the NBA's Most Valuable Player in the coming 2014-25 season? According to the ESPN's Summer Forecast predictions, LeBron James is leading the race with 280 votes while reigning, defending MVP Kevin Durant is trailing behind with 180 points. After James and Durant, no one else is close enough to catch up with. The youngest MVP in league history , Derrick Rose, only garnered 21 votes for the third spot.
Indeed, it seems every year the race for the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA is always a battle between the league's top players. Adam Fromal of Bleacher Report believes that in the last few years, any conversation revolving around the league's MVP needs to start and end with the same two players, Durant and James.
Fromal also thinks that Durant and James have been dominating the conservation for the NBA's MVP every season for quite some time now. He wrote, "But not only have those two won each of the last three MVPs, they've also finished second in the years they didn't win. Not only have they owned the top two spots, but they've done so to such an extent that no other player in the NBA has been particularly close to them."
Barring any injury, its not hard to see Durant and James dominating the MVP votes in the coming season. Durant is still entering his prime and James still has a lot of elite basketball years ahead of him. The question now is, who will win next season's MVP race?
Stephen Babb for Bleacher Report believes that Durant is primed to repeat his stint as NBA MVP his incoming season. While James will certainly remain as his biggest threat, James is playing with Cleveland who is set to recruit two other renowned stars in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, who, barring any unforeseen change of events, will undoubtedly share the spotlight with James. Moreover, any success that the Cavs will make in the coming season will not be entirely credited to him, Babb added.
James, on the other hand, will reportedly have a lot of adjusting to do with a new team and a new system. He will have to learn how to play alongside a ball-dominant point guard in Irving. And when a high scoring, elite rebounding player like Love will join the the mix, LeBron's numbers will surely not be as good as it was in recent years.
Meanwhile, Durant is also seen to be most unlikely stuffing unbelievable numbers during his MVP season, where he averaged 32.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 50.3 percent from the field, now that Russell Westbrook is back in full health. When Westbrook got injured, Durant had to carry the Oklahoma City Thunder in his back and had to do everything from scoring to distributing the ball and playing defense so the team can remain competitive. Westbrook's injury has clearly helped Durant in his run for the MVP award last season.
So who do you think will win the NBA's Most Valuable Player award in the 2014-15? Durant or James? Share us your thoughts below!
Join the Conversation