Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Reasons why LeBron James should win MVP

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– Team performance without him on the court

As we get more and more into the advanced analytics of basketball, one of the popular stats has been a team’s ratings with players on and off the court. One of the benefits of having two stars as the Lakers do is to avoid having droughts when one of them rests. However, the Lakers take a noticeable dip when James is off the court.

Part of the reason for the dip is because the Lakers don’t have a good option to be a playmaker when James is off the court. Rajon Rondo has been a disappointment for much of the season, but the Lakers not having a good option should only strengthen the case for James’ value to the team.

When James is on the court, the Lakers have an offensive rating of 113.3, but when he is off, that rating drops to 105.2. This is the biggest difference for anyone on the team and shows how valuable that James is.

Even with how great Anthony Davis has been this season, his difference is only at 1.4, as James is the more important player of the two. The on and off the court stats don’t lie, as the Lakers are a different team with James on the court than they are with him off.