MVP: LeBron James, Cleveland
Calling this a one-horse race no longer does justice to the lead James has over the competition; he's making Secretariat's win at the Belmont seem like a cliffhanger. James is the best player in the league and nobody else is close right now, with LeBron's league-leading 31.51 mark nearly matching his Jordanesque performance of a season ago.
James is hitting a career-high 50.9 percent and averaging 29.9-7.9-7.2 per contest, helping Cleveland stay atop the Eastern Conference standings despite the team's struggles to incorporate Shaquille O'Neal. So thoroughly is he dusting the competition that he has more than a third more estimated wins added than any other player.
If anything, James' lead on the field has increased. Last season, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul nearly matched James with their own historically great seasons, plus Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to 65 wins. This season, the field isn't as strong. Wade has upped his play of late after a slow start, but Paul missed several games with an injury and hasn't been as good since he returned, while Bryant has labored through multiple injuries after a strong start.
A few other candidates warrant mentioning but similarly fall short of James' ridiculously high standard. Tim Duncan is having the best offensive season of his career, Chris Bosh has been similarly effective for a Toronto team that plays only one side of the floor, and Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony have done yeoman's work rounding out what were once one-dimensional games. That said, nobody has seriously matched James' impact in scoring, rebounding, passing and defending, and with the Cavs owning the NBA's best record and a season sweep of the Lakers, this award seems a slam dunk.