In this edition of "History Rewritten", I would like to explore the travesty of the 1973 NBA MVP Award. This was yet another fishy MVP Race that I did not agree with. Without question, I will rename a much better choice for the MVP Award. However, I believe that the 1969 MVP Race was even more egregious than this one. There is no way in the world that I believe Wes Unseld was the Most Valuable Player for that season. I think Elvin Hayes was a more valuable rookie than Wes that year. The 1973 Race was not on the same level as the '62 Race, but better than the one in 1969. Here is the background for that season. The Boston Celtics won a franchise record 68 games. Bill Russell's teams NEVER won that many games. Even Larry Bird's teams NEVER won 68 games either. The 1986 Celtics won 67 games instead. Boston was pretty deep that season, with the combination of Dave Cowens and John Havlicek along with JoJo White and others. This team was a year away from winning the championship. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was on fire that season with yet another stellar campaign with Milwaukee. He was the defending two-time MVP, as he was the Alpha Dog of the league. Nate "Tiny" Archibald became the smallest Scoring Champion in NBA History, when he averaged 34.0 ppg. That season, Tiny also led the league in Assists with 11.4 apg. Those were the three strongest cases.
With that said, the NBA decided to narrow the Award to one man:
Dave Cowens:
Cowens Season Statistics: (20.5 ppg/16.2 rpg/4.1 apg/45.2% FG/77.9% FT)
Cowens had a great season, but he blended within a team that was very strong that season. Individually, he had his share of flaws that would keep me from naming him the MVP of the entire league. While he averaged 16.2 rpg, his Field Goal Percentage left much to be desired at 45 %. When you look at the Metrics, Cowens did not even contribute the most Win Shares for the league. The NBA was already in a down period anyway, and honestly, it looks pretty underwhelming to see him win the MVP during one of the more competitive races of that decade. Here is the competition that Dave Cowens faced:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: (30.2 ppg/16.1 rpg/5.0 apg/55.4% FG/71.3% FT)
Nate Archibald: (34.0 ppg/2.8 rpg/11.4 apg/48.8 FG%/84.7% FT)
Wilt Chamberlain: (13.2 ppg/18.6 rpg/4.5 apg/72.7% FG%/51% FT)
John Havlicek: (23.8 ppg/7.1 rpg/6.6 apg/45% FG/85.8% FT)
Jerry West: (22.8 ppg/4.2 rpg/8.8 apg/47.9% FG/80.5% FT)
This was a fairly tight race, especially with Kareem's typical monster numbers during his heyday with Milwaukee. In my view, he was the most consistent player during that time period. Jabbar's field goal percentage was 10% higher than Cowens. Tiny pulled double duty as the Scoring Champion and the Assists Champion on a very subpar Kings team. Even he had a better shooting percentage than Cowens, while only playing as a POINT GUARD! Wilt led the NBA in Rebounding and Field Goal Percentage in his final season. He shot 72 percent. 72 PERCENT in his LAST Season!! That is the direct opposite of what he shot during his legendary rookie campaign in 1960 when he only shot 46%. These three players also had better Win Share numbers than Dave that season. Even his own teammate John Havlicek was building a pretty nice case for himself, although he was outclassed. Dave's numbers and efficiency were obviously eclipsed by the leading candidates in the race.
Now, here is where things really became shady. Here are the voting results:
Cowens won with 444 total votes. Here is the voting breakdown:
Dave Cowens: 444 votes (67 first place votes)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 339 votes (33 first place votes)
Nate "Tiny" Archibald: 319 votes (44 first place votes)
Wilt Chamberlain: 123 votes (12 first place votes)
This has to be the most bizarre voting system that I have ever seen. Kareem ranked second in voting, but had eleven fewer votes than Archibald who ranked third? Cowens received 67 first place votes to win, which gave him twice as many votes as Jabbar who only had 33. Meanwhile, Tiny had 44 while finishing third. As far as I know, the player that finishes in second place should have more first place votes than the player who finishes in third. This MVP race was very much backwards. In typical Celtics fashion, Cowens was surrounded by a strong team. Meanwhile, he did not have a very transcendant season. Tiny was a scoring machine, but he loses points in my book because he KILLED his Team with his scoring. I cannot call you an MVP when you cannot carry your team into the Playoffs. Tiny was the Russell Westbrook of that time. Outstanding numbers, but could not lead the team into the postseason. If you are really valuable, you can take your team to that next level.
Rewrite:
With everything taken into account, I would like to rewrite history in my own way by awarding the MVP to the Alpha Dog of the NBA at that time. This man lead the Milwaukee Bucks to their first ever NBA Championship two years earlier with a veteran Point Guard named Oscar Robertson. This young, dynamic star won the Finals MVP that year, as he also led the NBA in Scoring that season. The following year, he led the NBA in Scoring again en route to another MVP with a career high 34.7 ppg. His campaign in 1973 was no different, with 30.2 ppg and 16.1 rpg as he continued to lead the Bucks as contenders. That player is none other than, Mr. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In all honesty, I felt that Kareem was seriously ROBBED of the MVP that Season. People talk about the 1993 & 1997 MVP Screwjobs where Michael Jordan was robbed in favor of Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. Well, Kareem himself is very familiar with that feeling as he experienced it 20 years earlier. I could accept Sir Charles and The Mailman as MVP's before I could accept Dave Cowens. Kareem was an Unstoppable Force down low in the Paint with the Greatest Weapon in NBA History, The Skyhook. He was the single most devastating player in Basketball, and the NBA needed to continue that trend of awarding him the MVP Trophy when he produced MVP worthy numbers. Kareem's individual numbers rivaled those of Nate Archibald. However, he made his team contenders the same way that Dave Cowens did. Kareem had better stats than Cowens, and was a better team leader than Tiny. Everyone knew who the Top Star was for the Bucks, and it was Kareem himself. Dave probably has the most flaws of any MVP Winner besides Wes Unseld and Bill Walton (more on that later). Even though I chose Wilt as the MVP of 1962, I can still respect Bill Russell's case more than Cowens. Kareem was the MOST Dominant Player of that Era, and he deserves to be rewarded whenever he had a season of dominance. Although he already has 6 MVP Awards, I can look back and say that it would be nice for him to have one more. In my world, Kareem is now a 7-time NBA Most Valuable Player. For the 1972-73 Season, Kareem was the REAL MVP.
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