There’s always an argument about what is an MVP. Sometimes, by not being in some place, injured or simply left a team, you prove your worth more than anything else. LeBron James happens to be the best player and most valuable all at once, leading the Miami Heat to a 66 win season, while the Cleveland Cavaliers, his former team, have won a total of 64 games since he left them.
When you remember the kid storming the court and asking James to come back to Cleveland, you get the feeling that after all the ESPN and media spins on James being the embodiment of evil and all that’s wrong in sports, it’s good to know things are pretty much back to normal. James has been nothing but incredible for the Heat, leading them to a 170-60 regular season record over the past three seasons (with one slightly shortened), winning 73.9% of their games. Making two NBA finals also has to count for something.
The Cavs? Yes, they do have Kyrie Irving, but that’s about it. While three full 82-game seasons would have probably meant this post wouldn’t have existed, they have still been pretty awful since James departing on July 2010. They’ve gone 64-166, winning only 27.8% of their games. Almost even out to 100 when you add it up with the Heat’s winning numbers, if that means anything at all.
On his last two season with the Cavaliers, on changing and not too impressive lineups, James won 66 and 61 games with the team, but failed to take them once again to the NBA finals, which almost feels like a mistake when it happen back in 2007. It wasn’t a mistake. It was simply LeBron James in amazing individual ability taking down the Detroit Pistons, pretty much on his own. With the Miami Heat, he’s getting a lot more help than he did in Cleveland, and that pretty much tells the story of why the Cavs are so bad over the last three seasons.
There wasn’t much but James for seven years. There was even less left to play with when he left. Maybe Kyrie Irving is going to change things pretty soon, but he’s going to need a lot more assistance than James did to turn the franchise around.