…Kevin Durant (check out my other anticipated award winners here).

That is, if you listen to a recent survey conducted by nba.com in which the GM’s of the teams in the league were asked various questions about the upcoming season.

In fact, Durant was the runaway winner, gathering two-thirds (66.7%) of the votes.  Another 25% of the general managers cast their votes for the 2007-08 MVP, Kobe Bryant.

The same survey polled the GM’s for the best players at each position.  And interestingly enough, Durant was not voted as a top player at any of the positions.  At the spot that he rated the highest, small forward, he placed a distant second to LeBron James – 68% to 29%.  And what about poor Carmelo Anthony?  Approximately one GM said he was the best at his position.  So are they telling us that they would honestly rather go into battle with Durant instead of ‘Melo?  I would hope not.

NBA GM's are projecting Durant to be this year's MVP.

What does it all mean?

Absolutely nothing.  I think we can all relate to the fact that GM’s would rather have James on their team, right now, than Kevin Durant.  Picking Durant that far ahead of Anthony is a head-scratcher – but in reality, we’ve come to discover that the Maurice Podoloff Trophy is virtually meaningless when gauging whether a team’s season is deemed as a success. 

We’ve witnessed two consecutive seasons in which LeBron James won this award.  And after dancing and prancing on the sidelines to league-leading regular season records, the James’ gang flamed out without reaching the NBA Finals each year.

Back in the 80′s and 90′s, the award told us more about the determination of the people that won it.  During these decades, the most frequent winners were Michael Jordan (5), Magic Johnson (3) and Larry Bird (3).  The teams represented by these three elite players accounted for 14 championships within a span 19 NBA seasons.

Isn’t that what the MVP award is all about?  Players that define the greatness of the game?  Is greatness defined by titles? 

Today’s MVP formula looks more like this:

One interesting thing of note – the last player to win a championship during his MVP season was Shaquille O’Neal…and that was ten years ago (1999-2000).

This illustrates a very telling trend that has developed over the last decade.  Nowadays, teams are enjoying postseason success after attaining mediocre marks during the regular season.  Take for example last season’s Boston Celtics.  The veteran-laden squad limped to a 50-32 record, which was only good enough for the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed.  However, their focus was solely on staying healthy, because they knew that they could compete for the title - but only if they had all of their pieces assembled.  The result: Boston was nine minutes away from their second NBA title in three years.

The game was certainly much different in the 80′s (and before).  There wasn’t an atmosphere of players not going 100% during regular season games.  Sure, the effort from players was turned up a notch during the postseason – but it was from 100% to 110%.  In today’s marathon that is the NBA regular season, it looks and feels like players, and coaches alike, are only giving about 80%-85% on a nightly basis.

Bird and Johnson were MVPs who also led their teams to great success.

So, in the past, MVPs seemed to be more deserving.  At the same time, the best of the best in the league were easily discernible because everyone gave what appeared to be close to maximum effort throughout the season.  If certain players excelled consistently, they could be rightfully regarded as the cream of the crop.

Think of it like this…

The old NBA is LeBron James.  What you see in the regular season is what you get in the postseason. 

The new NBA is Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.  What you see in the regular season is never what you get this postseason.  It’s typically much less.

So, Kevin Durant – by the new NBA definitions – stands a great chance at becoming the MVP of the league.  David Stern gets his newest international megastar validated with the top individual award that his organization can give out.

And the non-MVPs will continue to monopolize the top team awards that Stern’s organization can give out.

T Lamont is the owner, administrator and author of all content for Ball or Nuthin\'. Feel free to contact T Lamont with a question or comment at ballornuthin@gmail.com.  All created Ball or Nuthin' content is the sole property of T Lamont. Read more from this author