What does an MVP have to do?

ESPN and TrueHoopNetwork have released their NBA player rankings and a quick glance at the top 10 has the Repoman somewhere between puzzled and incredulous. Here are the top 10 players according to the “experts”:

#10 – Blake Griffin
– How bad is the rest of the NBA if this guy is in your top 10? His entire offensive game consists of the dunk and…uh…well, that’s about it.

#9 – Deron Williams – Nice ball player. Top 10? Hardly…

#8 – Derrick Rose – What does an MVP have to do? This one man gang leads his team in scoring, assists, steals and ankle breaking. His victimization of the league last season resulted in a overwhelming vote as MVP. So, of course, ESPN ranks him #8…

#7 – Kobe Bryant – Hall of famer and all-time great. No argument here.

#6 – Kevin Durant – Definite top 10 talent. Unstoppable scorer and great ambassador for the game.

#5 – Dirk Nowitzki – NBA champ and match up nightmare. Don’t know that I can justify ranking him higher than Kobe or Durant, but a definite top 10 talent.

#4 – Dwayne Wade – Great player ranked one spot too high. The NBA MVP should occupy this position in these rankings. Wade has the all round game which makes him a top 5 player, without a doubt. However, the Heat without Wade are still a playoff team. The Bulls without Rose = lottery bound.

#2 - Dwight Howard – Man beast is unstoppable on offense and defense. Legitimate top 3 talent.

#1 – Lebron James – Did you really think ESPN would put someone else here? Ha! Luckily, James has the dynamic talent to warrant this selection. What is even scarier is that James still doesn’t know how good he can be…

Look, we know these rankings will mean nothing once (if?) the real games start, but ESPN needs to take a moment to get off the Miami Heat’s sack to give the MVP his due. Oh, and while they are at it, consider moving Blake Griffin back to the mid-20s where he belongs. One good, not great, season does not a top 10 player make.