In 2007, it was the year when the "little emperor" LeBron James gradually entered the peak of his career, not only led the Cavaliers to the finals in the 06-07 season, but also cut the super comprehensive data of 30 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game in the 07-08 season, won the NBA scoring champion, was selected into the NBA Best Team, and scored the 10,000th point of his career on February 27, 08, becoming the youngest player to reach 10,000 points.
However, in such a peak year, James only ranked fourth in the MVP vote, and even could only get a pitiful 1 vote out of 126 first votes, which is really surprising. Could it be that there are three players in the 07-08 season who are even more demonic than James? Today, the author will take you to take a closer look at who the three players in front of James were and whether they deserved to be relegated to No. 4.
3rd Place: Kevin Garnett (15 first votes)
Team record: 66-16
Average regular season stats: 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks
Judging from the data, this season's Kevin Garnett scored 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks. However, this is just the data on the surface, some high-level defensive statistics, Garnett is actually at the top, and even elected this season's DPOY, that is, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, so it is not incomprehensible that his MVP vote rate is higher than James. In addition, the selection of the regular season MVP is not only based on individual statistics, but also on the record of the player's team. Garnett left the Timberwolves in 2007 to join the Celtics, which improved the Celtics' record to 66-16, which was at the bottom of the league with only 24 wins and 58 losses last season, ranking first in the league.
With such a big change in the team's record span, even if Garnett's stats are not particularly good-looking, as the boss of the team on the surface, he will be favored by the league's voters, so he deserves to get 15 first-place votes in the MVP vote this season, ranking ahead of James. And from the perspective of future generations, there is no doubt about such an MVP voting ranking, after all, the Celtics also won the NBA championship that season, and their boss Kevin Garnett has to be a little honorable and consoled, and DPOY alone is not enough to prove his sacrifice and hard work.
2nd Place: Chris Paul (28 first votes)
Team record: 56-26
Average stats per game in the regular season: 21.1 points, 4 rebounds, 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals
Chris Paul, one of James' banana boat brothers, was able to rank ahead of James and Garnett in the MVP vote this season, which was actually a bit surprising to many fans at the time, after all, he was only a third-year rookie at the time. To be able to join the ranks of the MVP race in such a short period of time after entering the league really makes fans feel a little unreal. However, rookie aura aside, just from a practical point of view, Chris Paul really deserves this ranking. Because he raised the Super Fish Belly New Orleans Hornets, which is now the Pelicans, to a big notch, so that the bottom team that can't enter the playoffs directly becomes the second team in the West with 56 wins and 26 losses, which is not much better than Garnett's addition to the Celtics, plus Chris Paul's comprehensive data of 21.1 points, 4 rebounds, 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals in the season double-double, the MVP vote rate is naturally more than Garnett and James, which is really nothing to doubt.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that Paul was also named the assist and steal king this season. helped the team's record improve, and then with the blessing of double-double data and double championship honors, Paul only ranked second on the MVP list this season, which is actually a bit wronged.
1st Place: Kobe Bryant (82 first votes)
Team record: 57-25
Regular season averages: 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals
This season's MVP winner, Kobe Bryant, received a total of 82 first-place votes, leading the other three by a cliff. And there is nothing controversial about him winning this honor, because when it comes to helping the team improve its record, he led the Lakers from 42-40 last year to 7th in the West this season to 57-25 this season to first in the West. In addition, Kobe Bryant's own improvement and statistics are also very plus, not only on December 23, 2007, his career total points exceeded 20,000 points, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to reach 20,000 points at that time, but also cut 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 28+5+5 data in the season, and was selected for the NBA All-NBA First Team and the NBA All-Defensive First Team that season. Such honors and data cannot be ignored no matter which fairy season he is placed in, not to mention that he still achieved it in the highly exposed Lakers team, so it is natural for Kobe Bryant, who has the blessing of data and spotlight, to become the MVP of this season.