LeBron James: One of two Lakers ranked in the “Too Early” race for MVP?

There are two players on the Los Angeles Lakers that are in the early race for MVP. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the obvious players. Lake Show Life compares AD and LeBron to the other front-runners for MVP after one month into the NBA season.

It’s amazing that the Los Angeles Lakers season has just officially passed one month already. The most hyped game of the season between the Lakers and the LA Clippers has been replaced with other storylines that include “Load Management”, a steep rating decline and the Lakers shocking the NBA world by sitting comfortably on top of the standings as the best team.

Here’s the time when the early discussions of who are the front-runners for the MVP start. Some NBA fans think the discussions are premature (Writer included!), but when the TNT crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal started talking last week, some tend to listen.

https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1197764471118159872

It’s an interesting observation that two players from the Clippers roster were not a part of the conversation. Lake Show Life had in-depth conversations thinking the battle for MVP was definitely going to be a head to head battle coming out of the Staples Center. It seems only one player emerged at this point.

LeBron James has emerged as the King of Los Angeles for now and Magic Johnson came out with a tweet about a week ago predicting LeBron James as the NBA MVP if things keep up.

This is a major shock considering what happened to the Lakers on opening night. Kawhi Leonard totally dominated the game while LeBron faced extreme criticism for his play. Now the narrative has totally changed with Kawhi Leonard now under the spotlight for sitting games for load management while LeBron James hasn’t missed a game.

Lake Show life wants to start a conversation about who the front-runner is at this point for the race for MVP. Let’s start with this statement for clarity.

This is not an article on who the NBA MVP will be. No one knows yet and less than 20 games are not enough to gauge who is going to take the crown. This is an article breaking down the players the TNT crew mentioned and one more player that deserved to be mentioned as well.

Luka Doncic has gone from Rookie of the Year to possible MVP!

To become the NBA MVP, the first thing voters look at is winning. That is something that Luka Doncic seemed to figure out early.

Before the season, Doncic pointed out that the Dallas Mavericks needed to end their playoff drought after three years of watching at home. As the leader of the team, he set a goal for the franchise and boy have Luka and the Mavs delivered.

Dallas has been a pleasant surprise this year firing out of the gate. As of this writing, Dallas is now fourth in the Western Conference with an 12-6 record leading into the Mavericks showdown against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Doncic has averaged a 30-point triple-double over his last 15 games. The only players in NBA history with longer such streaks: Oscar Robertson (twice), Tiny Archibald, Michael Jordan and Russell Westbrook.

But what has Doncic in the conversation for MVP is his penchant to show up in big games with stars. There’s no time like the present when it comes to Luka.

Just last Sunday, Doncic won his duel with James Harden as the Mavericks got out with a win. the 41 points and 10 assists are not empty stats. He has not only raised his level of play but others as well. Tim Hardaway Jr., who has struggled at times this season has gotten himself on track as well.

Doncic made more history in this game. He joined LeBron James as the lone players in NBA history to have multiple outings with at least 40 points and 10 assists before their 21st birthday. Speaking of LeBron James, the Lakers game was really Luka Doncic’s coming out party being named in the MVP race. Remember this play?

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1190482104309571584

Doncic was not on the floor at the time this happened. When he was out there, he took the Lakers’ defense apart with constant lobs to the basket that had the big men perplexed. Doncic was part of a triple-double showdown with LeBron James scoring 31 points, collecting 13 rebounds and 15 assists.

They both combined to make NBA history as the two players with the biggest age difference to have triple-doubles in the same game. Whether Luka Doncic is in the conversation because he’s new and exciting or for other reasons, it doesn’t matter right now.

Just like Charles Barkley said in the discussion, Luka is BALLING right now.

James Harden is a scoring machine that no one can stop at this point. Double team maybe?

When you have two seasons of being a runner-up sandwiching an MVP season, more than likely your name will be on an MVP list somewhere. James Harden definitely qualifies. He leads the NBA in scoring (Like again!) and does it ways people only dream of.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1198119784702971904

James Harden goes into his bag of tricks against the Clippers and hits Laker Nation’s all-time favorite player, Patrick Beverley, with a crossover so sick that it became a meme on Twitter. He dropped Beverley and Paul George with the move and hit nothing but net. This might not get Harden the MVP but it may get him an ESPY next summer.

It was hard to see what James Harden would do for an encore, but he’s doing his best. After leading the NBA in scoring at 36 points a contest, he is averaging, even more, this season. He is averaging a shade under 38 points per game. Some believe he could make 40 if he tries hard enough.

There is a saying, “What makes you laugh can make you cry.” This applies in a sense to Harden. His offensive repertoire is larger than anyone in the NBA. However, he brings a ton of controversy with his ways of drawing fouls.

James Harden averages 14.4 attempts per game, far and away the best mark in the NBA. In contrast, LeBron James averages 5.6 attempts.

What gets Harden in trouble when it comes to changing the narrative in the media. He made it known that he felt that he should have won the MVP last year instead of Giannis Antetokounmpo.

If he loses out on the MVP this year, comments like this will haunt him.

Against Denver, the Rockets lost a game when Harden only scored 27 points. For most players, it would be a good game, right? But a clearly frustrated scoring leader makes a quote Devin Booker can relate to. Double teams. Only in this case, it’s worse. One, it’s during the NBA season and two, this quote is recent.

James Harden is well-known for being a great scorer but never showing up in the playoffs when needed. His votes will be collected in the spring.

The “Greek Freak” has better numbers than last year. But is it in a watered-down Eastern Conference? 

Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most dominant player in the NBA. It’s not even close. There was talk that James Harden should have been MVP last year, but with Harden’s efficiency slipping a bit, the Greek Freak has gotten even better.

He leads the Milwaukee Bucks in scoring (31.2), rebounding (13.6), assists (6.0) and steals (1.5). In other words, this dude is absolutely destroying the NBA right now.

Ask the Utah Jazz how he’s doing based on his performance on Monday night.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1199138423484952576

Lake Show Life doesn’t know what is meaner. His mug or the stat line against the Utah Jazz. Giannis scored 50 points to go with 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals and zero turnovers. This might not be the last time he gets numbers like these.

In the playoffs last year, Antetokounmpo was exposed by his lack of range on his jump shot. Those days are starting to come to an end as it is evident that he has put in work in the offseason increasing his range.

Remember the main ingredient in winning? The Milwaukee Bucks have found themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference. He’s the best player on the best team in the East.

Let’s check out a couple of players in the Western Conference.

Anthony Davis may lose the MVP because of the DPOY but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be on the list!

When the discussion for Anthony Davis being on the shortlist for MVP, analytics and media narrative gets in the way. First, let’s discuss the analytic numbers on AD’s resume.

Davis leads the best team in the NBA in scoring (26.1), rebounding (9.2), steals (1.5) and blocks (2.8). As for the blocks, AD not only leads the Lakers in blocked shots but the entire NBA.

Like Giannis Antetokounmpo being the unstoppable force in the Eastern Conference, Davis runs the Western Conference. Before any casual NBA fan starts talking about comparing players and stats, remember AD is suffering from an injured shoulder and sore ribs.

Anthony Davis deserves the MVP, but if he doesn’t it is because of the narrative he set at the beginning of the season. He is on record saying he wants to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

Based on the defensive performance last Saturday night against Memphis coupled with the 26-27 free throw performance that ended up being a 40 point 20 rebound performance in three quarters in the first game, everyone can see that he deserves to be in the ranking.

But, there’s one guy that is on the top of the mountain.

LeBron James has restored his game (and credibility!) at the beginning of his “Revenge Season” tour. 

It’s not like Lake Show Life wasn’t paying attention to LeBron James and his infamous tweet about his “Revenge Season” this year.

https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1157047766318637057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1157047766318637057&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2019%2F09%2F29%2Flebron-james-4-reasons-revenge-season-work%2F

After opening night, LeBron James not only changed the narrative of Kawhi Leonard as the best in the NBA but maybe even on the planet. While Kawhi Leonard sat out a few games for rest, LeBron James took advantage of his resting to his resurrection in front of the NBA world.

Not only is he averaging over 25 points a game slightly behind his superstar teammate, Anthony Davis, but he’s leading the NBA in assists.

LeBron James is trying his best to show that last year was an anomaly as he is much more aggressive taking the ball to the basket instead of bailing out the opponent shooting 3-point shots. Unlike last year, LeBron has really picked it up on the defensive end as well. James Harden’s signature play was the shot.

Here’s LeBron’s statement for the MVP.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1195564616010457088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1195564616010457088&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2019%2F11%2F18%2Flos-angeles-lakers-3-lessons-learned-sacramento-kings-atlanta-hawks-sweep%2F

When it is all said and done, James is the front-runner for MVP. He has been the best and most consistent player on the best team in the NBA. To be totally honest, it’s really not even close. What will take him over the top is his leadership.

Lake Show Life heavily criticized LeBron James for numerous incidents of poor leadership. That is not the case this year.

He has bought into Frank Vogel’s system. He has kept Kentavious Caldwell-Pope‘s spirits up so his game didn’t fall by the wayside. He is engaged and his positive energy is the reason the Lakers are the best team in the NBA. Anthony Davis is the most talented player on the Los Angeles Lakers, but the most important player is LeBron James. A huge difference.

To repeat this is not to say who is the MVP at the end of the NBA season. But for now, LeBron James is the MVP as of now.