2014 NBA AWARDS: WHO SHOULD BE THE MVP ACCORDING TO STATISTICS?

This is the first of my two articles about the 2014 NBA AWARDS using statistics.

Today, we will focus on “who should be the MVP” before looking at the “the All-NBA teams / All-Defensive teams”.

A. 2014 MVP.

The widely accepted definition of the National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an award given to the best performing player of the season, usually within one of the best team of the regular season.

Accordingly, I screened the 10 best players of the regular season in 5 different sets of statistics focused mainly on attack and efficiency [except for my statistic (A)] (see my  articles for February and March for the most effective players during these months).

• The most important statistic used is (A) my benchmark of "all around/versatile player" (a similar benchmark to the one used to determine my G.O.A.T/per decade, while less focused on defense and efficiency; see my article: What do the statistics say about who should be the Greatest Of All Time (G.O.A.T)? PART 1.). There are 25 points for the first player in this statistic to 1 for the 25^th.
• I then screened (B) efficiency in term of plus/minus net points for players while they were on the floor, (C) most plus/minus points par 48 minutes while the player was on the floor, (D) players with the most triple-double, and I ended with a focus on (E) the most efficient shooters (see my article on the best efficient shooters ever in NBA history in the regular season).  For these 4 statistics, there are 10 points for the first player to 1 for the 10^th.
• Finally, there are points (F) for the position of every team from +15 (San Antonio which is the leader of the regular season) to -14 for the last (Milwaukee).

According to my benchmark of six statistics, Kevin Durant should be the MVP of the 2014 regular season. Joakim Noah, the defensive player of the year, is sixth in this ranking. There are 46 players that received points. A special mention to Tim Duncan who, at age 38, is still producing amazing numbers while leading his team to another 50+ season.

Rk	Player	A	B	C	D	E	F	TOTAL POINTS
1	Kevin Durant	24	9	2	7	9	14	65
2	Kevin Love	22	1	10	7	5	-1	44
3	Blake Griffin	23	2	5			13	43
4	LeBron James	25	1				11	37
5	Dirk Nowitzki	20				8	6	34
6	Joakim Noah	19			9		5	33
7	Chandler Parsons	15		7			11	33
8	Stephen Curry			6	9	10	8	33
9	LaMarcus Aldridge	19					11	30
10	David Lee	15	5				8	28
11	Lance Stephenson	5			10		12	27
12	Zach Randolph	15					7	22
13	James Harden	9		2			11	22
14	Nicolas Batum	5	1		5		11	22
15	Evan Turner	9					12	21
16	Klay Thompson		10			3	8	21
17	Roy Hibbert		9				12	21
18	David West		9				12	21
19	Tim Duncan	5					15	20
20	Serge Ibaka		5				14	19
21	Russell Westbrook				5		14	19
22	Dwight Howard	5		2			11	18
23	Ricky Rubio		9	9			-1	17
24	Marc Gasol	9					7	16
25	Paul Millsap	17					-2	15
26	Al Jefferson	15					0	15
27	DeAndre Jordan		5	1			8	14
28	Ray Allen					3	11	14
29	DeMarcus Cousins	21					-8	13
30	Paul George		1				12	13
31	Carmelo Anthony	15					-3	12
32	Chris Bosh		1				11	12
33	Gerald Green			4		3	5	12
34	Kyle Lowry				5		5	10
35	Mike Conley					3	7	10
36	Michael Carter-Williams	17			5		-13	9
37	Goran Dragic			4			5	9
38	Trevor Ariza					7	2	9
39	Corey Brewer			8			-1	7
40	John Wall				5		2	7
41	Joe Johnson					5	2	7
42	Kyle Korver					7	-2	5
43	Anthony Davis	9					-5	4
44	Pau Gasol	10					-9	1
45	Kevin Martin			2			-1	1
46	Rudy Gay	5					-8	-3

B. DETAILS OF THE STATISTICS.

Below, you can find the details of the different statistics used to determine the 2014 MVP.

a. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Points >= 18 and Total Rebounds >= 6 and Assists >= 2.5 and Field Goal Pct >= 0.5, sorted by most games matching criteria.

Rk	Player	Count
1	LeBron James	39
2	Kevin Durant	28
3	Blake Griffin	24
4	Kevin Love	22
5	DeMarcus Cousins	21
6	Dirk Nowitzki	18
7	LaMarcus Aldridge	15
8	Joakim Noah	15
9	Michael Carter-Williams	14
10	Paul Millsap	14
11	Carmelo Anthony	13
12	Al Jefferson	13
13	David Lee	13
14	Chandler Parsons	13
15	Zach Randolph	13
16	Pau Gasol	11
17	Anthony Davis	10
18	Marc Gasol	10
19	James Harden	10
20	Evan Turner	10
21	Nicolas Batum	9
22	Tim Duncan	9
23	Rudy Gay	9
24	Dwight Howard	9
25	Lance Stephenson	9

b. In a single season, per 48 minutes, in 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Net Points >= 20 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.

Rk	Player	Count
1	Klay Thompson	23
2	Kevin Durant	22
3	Roy Hibbert	22
4	Ricky Rubio	22
5	David West	22
6	Serge Ibaka	21
7	DeAndre Jordan	21
8	David Lee	21
9	Blake Griffin	20
10	Nicolas Batum	19
11	Chris Bosh	19
12	Paul George	19
13	LeBron James	19
14	Kevin Love	19

c. In a single season, per 48 minutes, in 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring Points >= 120 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.

Rk	Player	Count
1	Kevin Love	25
2	Ricky Rubio	24
3	Corey Brewer	20
4	Chandler Parsons	19
5	Stephen Curry	18
6	Blake Griffin	17
7	Goran Dragic	16
8	Gerald Green	16
9	Kevin Durant	15
10	James Harden	15
11	Dwight Howard	15
12	DeAndre Jordan	15
13	Kevin Martin	15

d. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring player recorded triple-double, sorted by most games matching criteria.

Rk	Player	Count
1	Lance Stephenson	5
2	Stephen Curry	4
3	Joakim Noah	4
4	Kevin Durant	3
5	Kevin Love	3
6	Nicolas Batum	2
7	Michael Carter-Williams	2
8	Kyle Lowry	2
9	Ricky Rubio	2
10	John Wall	2
11	Russell Westbrook	2

e. In 2013-14, in the regular season, requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.5 and 3-Pt Field Goal Pct >= 0.4 and Free Throw Pct >= 0.9 and Minutes Played >= 24, sorted by most games matching criteria.

Rk	Player	Count
1	Stephen Curry	16
2	Kevin Durant	15
3	Dirk Nowitzki	13
4	Trevor Ariza	12
5	Kyle Korver	12
6	Joe Johnson	11
7	Kevin Love	11
8	Ray Allen	10
9	Mike Conley	10
10	Gerald Green	10
11	Klay Thompson	10

Source: www.basketball-reference.com.

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