If you watched the NBA finals, you saw a thrilling display of basketball mastery. LeBron James makes other NBA behemoths look like match sticks. Steph Curry defies the laws of existential philosophy, much less physics.
Defying the laws of logic was the largely ceremonial awarding of the MVP trophy to Andre Iguodala of the champion Warriors. To say Andre Iguodala was the most valuable player in this series is to elevate sentiment over facts, to ignore the obvious in favor of the novel and generally to make a mockery of the award.
LeBron James won a third of the games in this series almost completely unaided in a one-on-five competition. You can't make a credible argument that the Cavaliers would have even earned a finals berth without the world's greatest player, much less won two of the first three contests.
Competing without their second and third best players, the Cavs bucked the odds just by avoiding a sweep. They did so because LeBron played nearly every debilitating minute and led his team in scoring, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and concessions sold. He is a giant among Gullivers but was out-manned, out-womanned and out-childrenned against Oakland.
People are entitled to their opinions, but this particular opinion has to rest on facts. James averaged 36 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists while playing 46 minutes per game. Iguodala averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and is "credited" with "shutting down" LeBron.
Stats don't tell the whole story, of course. Iguodala had to be removed from the final minutes of games because he can't make a foul shot to save his life. This is the MVP of the series -- the guy the other team wants on the floor when the game is on the line.
Andre Iguodala offered the most unexpected performance. Added to all the amazing talent the Warriors already had, his performance might have been the difference in the series. Handing a morose LeBron James the MVP trophy amid the Warriors' jubilation might have proved awkward and embarrassing before a worldwide television audience. This may all be true.
But none of it adds up to Andre Iguodala MVP, especially when weighed against LeBron James, who might have turned in the greatest performance in NBA Finals history.
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