Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is thick in the MVP race.
As the regular season was really starting to near the finish line, before taking a hiatus, the MVP race was dominated by two men: Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James and defending MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
There were debates then on who should take home the MVP award and there is debates now about who should win the award, especially considering if there is a regular season when the league returns it likely won’t be for very long.
Multiple different people have weighed in on the topic. Damian Lillard said on ESPN’s Jalen and Jacoby that LeBron should win the MVP award, while Paul Pierce has taken the opposite stance and has declared Giannis as the deserving MVP.
But let’s be honest, Paul Pierce seemingly takes a shot at LeBron James in every chance he gets.
If you just look at the numbers and the performance of the teams then Giannis absolutely deserves to be the MVP this season. He is averaging 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game for the 53-12 Bucks.
Not only is he filling up the box score for the best team in the league, but he is playing exceptional defense as well. The only player that could make the case against Giannis for Defensive Player of the Year is Anthony Davis, and the honor will probably still go to Giannis.
Giannis leads the league with a 96 defensive rating and is first in defensive win shares. He is a beast on both sides of the court.
However, LeBron James still has something that can trump Giannis, which unfortunately highlights the one bad thing about award voting in every major sport.
LeBron James’ MVP advantage:
Narrative. LeBron James has a better narrative.
Half of winning the MVP award in major sports is performance and the other half is the narrative that surrounds your name. This is the worst-kept secret in sports.
Look at Russell Westbrook. He became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double and won the MVP award on a Thunder team that only won 47 games and was bounced in the first round of the playoffs (although voting takes place before the playoffs).
Westbrook was great that season and accomplished something that hadn’t been seen in decades. What is crazier is that he did it again the following season for a better Thunder team and did not win the award.
It is not that he didn’t win the award, though, it is the fact that he finished fifth in MVP voting. Meanwhile, James Harden won the award as he arguably should have won it over Westbrook the year before (but narrative!) and this was the voters repaying Harden for another great season.
Giannis has a compelling narrative. Only 11 players in league history have won back-to-back MVP awards and only two have won the MVP and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season: Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. That is compelling.
However, LeBron James has a different, and more compelling, narrative. First, with the help of AD, LeBron has reverted the Los Angeles Lakers back to a winning team. The NBA’s most successful and prestigious team had an unprecedented run as a bottom feeder for over half a decade. Returning the Lakers back to how they should always be is compelling alone.
More importantly, LeBron has the age narrative that is getting him a lot of love in the media. The fact that he is doing what he is doing — averaging 25.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 10.6 assists (leads the league and is a career-high) — at 35 years old is remarkable.
Only two players have won the MVP award at 35 years old or older, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone.
LeBron also has the lasting image that is in the voter’s minds when they think of the 2020 season. The last significant thing that happened in the season is that the Lakers beat the Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers in back-to-back games. LeBron outplayed Kawhi Leonard and Giannis and beat the two other ‘legitimate’ title contenders.
Solely based on performance and production, I cannot argue that anyone other than Giannis deserves the award. I personally would vote for Giannis if I had a vote as what he is doing on the court is phenomenal.
However, because of the narratives surrounding LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar might just win the award after all.