We all know by know John Hollinger is a mad scientist when it comes to sports statistics, his numbers are ones that are pretty difficult to understand but when you really get to the meat of them and read their explanations, they're a pretty intense/great way to look at stats.
Hollinger noted the other day how LeBron's "PER," as he calls is, is third all time to Michael Jordan's 1987-88 and 1990-91 seasons.
TOP ALL-TIME PER SEASONS
Player ----------------Year------PER
Michael Jordan----1987-88--31.89
Michael Jordan----1990-91--31.79
LeBron James-----2008-09--31.69
Basically put, LeBron is MVP, and his stats back it up. He is in first place in the East with a miserable team behind him, carrying the entire workload on his back (could you imagine subsituting him for Paul Pierce or Kobe?, its scary what he could do with a supporting cast like that).
Heres what Hollinger has to say about LeBrons season to date:
Back to PER for a moment. You can argue about whether James is having the greatest individual season ever -- to seal the deal, presumably it would have to be capped by a title, for starters, and there are a variety of subjective criteria one can add to the discussion that goes far beyond the limits of PER.
What's very clear, however, is that LeBron's campaign belongs on the short list. Few players in history have had a season approaching this one, and as of today only one player has exceeded it.
And James still has a shot at breaking the mark. I'm estimating James will play 270 more minutes this season, based on the Playoff Odds' current guess that Cleveland won't clinch home court throughout the playoffs until the final day of the season. If so, James would need a PER of roughly 33.0 for the remainder of the season to surpass Jordan during the Cavs' final dozen games -- a feat that is difficult but hardly impossible.
So while it may not have the panache of a hitter's chasing .400 or an NFL player's setting a new rushing record, the chase is on.
The conventional wisdom is that James is having a great season, but the reality is much deeper -- he's having what is arguably the greatest individual season in history, and it's time we gave him his due for it[and made him MVP].
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