He was also hurt a lot. He broke his nose several times, had a lot of hand and finger fractures, and he had a big hamstring tear early in his career and a knee injury later. People don’t remember or know that he won Finals MVP with his left thigh basically duct taped together.

In a league where playing big minutes in every game was more or less the norm, West played in less than 70 games in seven out of his fourteen years and in less than 75 games ten out of fourteen years. And in a league where season totals were more important than per game averages, missing those 10 games meant he struggled to lead the league in scoring or assisting.

But yeah, West is the logo for a reason. He wasn’t just a scorer or distributor, but he was also a tough defender. The only reason he didn’t have more All-Defense selections is because the award didn’t exist yet.

That’s the truth

I see what you did there. Well played.

Also, Jerry West isn’t just the logo, he’s Mr. Clutch as well.

In general Jerry West is the better player, but that doesn’t mean he deserved MVP in those two seasons.

1969 I’m not sure how you even try to make that argument besides “I think Jerry West is better than Wes Unseld so he should have won it”.

• They just added Wilt to the team who was the reigning 3x consecutive league MVP.

• Jerry West played 61 games compared to Unseld and Reed who both played 82.

• West wasn’t event the Laker that got MVP votes, Baylor did.

• Unseld won it because the Bullets went from 36-46 to 57-25 the year he was drafted.

I can’t think of any era of basketball where people would evaluate that season and give the MVP to Jerry West.

1970 is debatable, but you have to look at it in historical context.

• Wilt and Baylor both got hurt so West had to carry the Lakers hard averaging 31 a game.

• Reed led the Knicks to the best record in the league while the Lakers only won 46 games.

• Reed was 1st team All-Defense and 1st team All-NBA over rookie Kareem who was already a monster.

• Reed won All Star MVP for whatever you think that’s worth.

• That Knicks team was a buzzsaw the whole way through. 9-1 in October, 14-1 in November, 10-5 in December, 12-4 in January, 9-4 in February, and then they went 6-7 in March losing the last 4 games of the year when nobody could catch them in the standings.

• The Knicks started the season 23-1, which was the record at the time for the first 24 games. The only teams tied or better after 24 games are the 2016 Warriors (24-0) and the 2026 Thunder (23-1).

• The Knicks won 18 games in a row at one point, which was also the record at the time. Bucks broke it in 71 (20 straight) and the Lakers shattered it in 72 (33 straight) which nobody has touched since.

It’s the Kobe 2006 argument. Is he the best player in the world? Maybe. If you took him off the team would they be one of the worst teams in the league? Maybe. But is that enough to take down a guy leading the best team in basketball by a pretty solid margin? Some years yes, some years no. If that race happened in the last decade there’s a chance West wins it since seeding has mattered less in the last decade. But Reed was leading the Knicks to some pretty historic stuff too, so it’s not a guarantee. And even though it doesn’t mean anything to the voting results, I would argue that Reed’s 1970 postseason proved he deserved that. Took down Unseld’s Bullets, took down Kareem’s Bucks, and took down West’s Lakers. He got hurt in the Finals obviously, but his statlines before the injury were insane. And the one game he missed Wilt had 45 and 27. In terms of proving you “deserved” MVP I feel like Reed’s MVP season has to be high on that list.

The year West probably should have won MVP is 1972 when the Lakers won 69 games and 33 in a row. He didn’t win it because he split the votes with Wilt, so Kareem ended up winning in a landslide. If that happened today I think the voters would give it to West after he had been chasing it for so long.

The year before unseld arrived they missed the playoffs, they had the best record in the league his rookie season. West also missed 20 games that year.

Ironically the w may see that happen with Olivia miles

Fair, idk why I thought you said it’s downright insane.

Secondly, Unseld’s case was that before he was drafted the wizards, they went 36-46. The year he was drafted they went 57-25, and had the best record in the nba. Willis Reed’s was that the Knicks had the best Net rating in the league the year he won MVP and they had the best defense.

I think Reed’s case is a bit weaker than Unseld’s, but I do think West should’ve won the mvp in 1970, but the lakers just weren’t that good that year comparatively to the Knicks

Unseld was a travesty Reed is ok

Oscar Rorbertson also won MVP during that timespan.

reddit arguments are mind-numbing

My bad I thought he said it was insane 😭

A case can be made for Timmy over Marcus Camby in 2007.

AS MVP while nice isn’t really on the same level as the other. It’s just one game and relatively achievable since a lot of the competition doesn’t even try. It can’t be compared to other serious awards.

I love CP, but there’s no way he’s better than Wade all things considered.

Wade was absolutely considered the #2 player in the league, hence the outrage over Miami.

They had diff roles

not at all. Wade led team to championship as no 1. He was better than LBJ in 2010 playoffs

Obviously biased, but what’s the argument for Paul over Wade?

That’s hurt quite a few players and their resumes

Not basketball, but same thing that happened to Haaland when he had the most ridiculous scoring season and he hasn’t been closing to winning it since. I hate how narratives determine so many awards when they kind of always end up looking stupid when you look back a few years later

That year-22 season is probably his most impressive, but West, Chandler, and Peja is pretty good, all 3 in prime years.

MVP is a regular season award, playoff success doesn’t factor into it

Playoffs have nothing to do with winning MVP?

Yes I know, but he still fits the question of no MVPs (FMVP is separate).

LeBron James took a team with Mo Williams as his second best player

Framing it as Lebron dragging a team with Mo + role players to a historic win pace seems slightly out of historical context. Having a co-star was rare in the 2000s and the league was still reshaping in the wake of the ‘08 Celtics team up.

Dwight Howard made the Finals with Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis. Dirk’s running mate was Jason Terry, Joe Johnson and Brandon Roy were both solo stars as their teammates had yet to blossom, the aforementioned Allen, Pierce and Garnett ran solo for most of the decade until 2008, even Kobe was without a co-star from 2004 to early 2008. Wade’s best running mate for most of that year was late career Shawn Marion.

The Cavs weren’t star-studded but they were well constructed for their era. They surrounded LeBron with elite defense and floor spacing in a highly optimized heliocentric system. Mo was an All-Star, Big Z was a few PPG shy of his AS years and the supporting cast provided shooting and defence. A 66-win season was a historic feat, but it wasn’t a solo effort.

Nah

when was pippen the “best player” ?

Yeah exactly. Hence, why he didn’t get the award. But if he hadn’t won anything before, it would matter to him more and he would’ve won.

Michael Doleac.

(greatest big man since Will Balton)