Legal Commentary

T-Mac for MVP?

By Tom Kirkendall

The incongruity of Chronicle sportswriter Richard Justice writing about sports has been a frequent topic on this blog, so I don't much bother anymore keeping up with his often baseless observations about the local sporting scene. However, on the heels of the Houston Rockets' recent 22-game winning streak, I did a double-take when Justice jumped on the bandwagon and started promoting the Rockets' Tracy McGrady for the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award this season.

As noted in this earlier post, as of December 30, McGrady was barely better than a league-average NBA player. There were dozens of players in the Western Conference alone who were having demonstrably better seasons than McGrady. So, at least as of that date, there was simply no objective basis for McGrady being considered the MVP of the NBA this season.

But perhaps McGrady elevated his performance tremendously during the Rockets' subsequent 22-game winning streak? Maybe that improved performance justifies Justice's advocacy of an MVP award for McGrady?

Sorry. As this Dave Berri post points out, McGrady’s production in the second half of the season is essentially the same as it was in the first half. Thus, McGrady is not the reason the Rockets went on their 22-game winning streak. Rather, the primary reason for the Rockets' transformation was the improved play of Carl Landry, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Luther Head, Luis Scola and Dikembe Mutumbo, not McGrady.

Berri backs up his position with objective statistical analysis. Justice backs his up with subjective blather. Is that what the Chronicle prefers?

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on March 19, 2008 (boomark / email).