Andre Iguodala won’t care if some disagree with his Finals MVP award. He’s probably too busy celebrating the Golden State Warriors’ first title since 1975.
Iguodala was certainly a worthy winner of the playoffs' most prestigious individual award. It was his defence on Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James that gave the Warriors a platform to win the title.
Yet the man he shadowed for the entire Finals was clearly the best player in the series. James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists in an inhuman 45.8 minutes per game. He had two triple-doubles and three 40-point games. It was simply one of the most dominant Finals performances ever.
That Iguodala won the award in part due to his ability to slow down this unstoppable force is a paradox in itself.
There is a subtle difference between Most Valuable Player and the most valuable player. Those three capitalised letters apparently persuaded the 11 voting media members that they should pick from the winning team.
This is an NBA award, and the NBA rewards winning over everything. It’s probably why James lost the regular season MVP to Warriors’ point guard Stephen Curry, and it’s certainly the reason he didn’t win the Finals version. Only one player in history, Jerry West in 1969, has ever taken the individual honour after coming up short in the title series. West averaged 30.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 7.5 assists in those playoffs.
It’s fitting that the Finals MVP award is presented by the ultimate winner, Bill Russell, who has more championship rings (11) than fingers (yes, 10). The message to the voters is clear – the winner should come from the champs.
Only Iguodala (seven) and James (four) won any votes from the 11-man panel, according to forbes.com, who broke down the voting. When we at Holding Court are given a Finals MVP vote, it will go to the series’ most valuable player (lower case) – even if Dirk Nowitzki would not approve.
If you’re picking an MVP from the champions, Iguodala is your man.
But LeBron James produced one of the best Finals performances ever. Winner or not, that should be recognised.
Three pointers
1. Let the what-ifs begin. A finals series with a healthy Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love would have seen the Cavs play much better on offence - and much worse on defence. Our crystal ball is showing a more entertaining series with the same outcome.
2. Holding Court predicted Warriors in six. Just saying. Though we did choose the Cavs in a friendly pick-the-winner contest at the beginning of the season. You win some, you lose some.
3. With all said and done, the NBA’s best team beat the NBA’s best player. This is good for basketball. Better that teams use the Warriors team-first blueprint than go all-in for a superstar, be it by tanking for high draft picks or clearing salary cap space.
