The outcome of the 2014 NBA Finals hasn’t been decided yet but an important through-line has: the Finals MVP Award needs some reevaluation. As it stands, if the Spurs were to win this thing, Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and possibly even Boris Diaw are San Antonio’s frontrunners for the prize. They’ve all been important cogs in the Spurs onslaught but by no means Finals MVPs by the definition we’ve assigned to it over the years.
Through four games, Tony Parker is averaging 18.5 points, 5.25 assists, 1 steal, and 1.25 threes on 50.9 shooting from the floor, 45.5 percent from deep, and 72.0 from the stripe. For comparison sake, here are a few other player averages:
Kawhi Leonard: 16.75 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.75 steals, and 1.25 blocks on 59.0 percent shooting from inside the arc, 53.3 from three, and 76.5 from the free-throw line.
Boris Diaw: 6.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.75 assists, 0.75 steals.
Tim Duncan: 15.75 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Manu Ginobili: 13.25 points, 2.75 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.25 assists.
From an overall numbers standpoint, no one is leading the pack by any large margin. It’s been a group effort to be as effective as the Spurs have been (all year long, at that). To give one an award for individual success would seem like a slap to the face of all things that make this team, this team. In LeBron’s situation, where he’s clearly carrying the load, it makes sense to make a Finals MVP something players should strive for, but then, what do you give a team that strives to turn that concept on its head? In many ways, the winning ways of these 2013-14 San Antonio Spurs run counter to the storylines we’ve been fed for decades. Where is the trophy that suits their exploits?
Not to be lost in all of this is Greg Popovich’s, and his dedicated staff, resilient effort. You can just tell from the ways that the Spurs have been moving the ball, cheating off Wade and Rashard Lewis to plug up defensive holes, taking advantage of the very thing that has made the Heat great, that Popovich molded this team to meet his sky-high expectations. Where does he factor into a reward that singles out an individual, let alone a player, for a team’s success?
Even last year, when the Heat overcame an overachieving Spurs team that was within inches of winning it all, a similar through-line was at stake. Up until Game 5, Danny Green, a 3-and-D template, looked to be the Finals MVP. But, was he then, like Parker, Leonard, Diaw, are now, an embodiment of what we expect from the prestige of the award? LeBron James is closer to someone who is–he has two to his name now–but look at where that’s gotten him: within one game of a humiliating, legacy-checking finals elimination.
