by Timmy Duncan

Created on: May 03, 2010

For many casual NBA fans who are used to having Lebron James shoved down their throats every time he plays on national television, there is no debate as to who should be the 2009 - 2010 NBA MVP. Of course it should be Lebron. Nobody means more to his team, nobody performs at the same level, nobody is as unbelievably, freakishly good at basketball as the 'chosen one' and we are all witnesses to his second consecutive MVP Award. However, there were several candidates who deserved to be in the running, regardless of how amazing Lebron James is and how obvious it was to the entire world that he was going to get his second MVP award this year.

Kevin Durant is the obvious runner up here. He became the youngest player in NBA history to win the scoring title. At 21 years old he is the franchise player for a small market team in only its third season (since being moved from Seattle). That is quite a load to bear for such a youngster and Kevin Durant has responded admirably. He and his teammates have got the people of Oklahoma City (and NBA fans everywhere) very excited about their future.

Dirk Nowitzki clearly needs to be in the conversation. This guy is a beast. How many times this year did we see the Mavericks enter the fourth quarter at a defecit and watch Dirk Nowitzki go into some other plane of existence and put his team on his back? A lot. The biggest detractor for Dirk is his lack of defense. He plays exactly zero defense. Which is probably a good thing for the rest of the league. He'd take over the world if he was as strong on defense as he is on offense.

Dwyane Wade is another clear contender and probably the one on the list with the biggest load to bear. Dwyane Wade IS the Miami Heat. As we saw in the first round of the playoffs when the Heat were dominated by the Celtics - save for one game. Dwyane Wade was not going to get swept. And he took over the game and turned in one of the most incredible performances I have ever seen. He is the entire team - if he ever had teammates who could back him up, he'd be impossible to defend.

Dwight Howard gets a nod here too. Though he is not as dominant offensively, he is the league's best defensive player. His ability to get into the paint and block shots is unmatched and he has won the Defensive Player of the Year award in back to back years. 

Kobe Bryant also needs to be mentioned. Though he slipped a bit in terms of his dominance, he still has the ability to take over at the end of games. His blood runs ice cold in the last few minutes of a game and nobody in the league is a better closer. He has struggled with injury this year for the first time, which likely contributed to his slipping in the votes.  

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