Gilbert Arenas has made an insightful observation on his ‘Gil’s Arena’ podcast as they were discussing if LeBron James is in the running for regular season MVP. Instead of answering the question, Arenas made an impassioned speech lamenting the fact that we cannot appreciate James’ late-career greatness because of the GOAT debate with Michael Jordan.
(Starts at 58:54)
“I know what you asked but it is sad. The narrative around who’s the GOAT that has basically taken away everything that he has been doing for the last four to five years. I don’t think people are paying attention to what’s going on. There’s not even one superstar in our history who has done not even 25% of what he is doing at this age. But because the Jordan-LeBron thing is going on, everybody’s been paying attention to all the negative things about him instead of watching history.”
LeBron is the most polarizing superstar athlete the NBA has seen, so he was bound to have haters try and diminish his achievements this late into his career. Most people with an objective lens can see that what James is achieving at this age with the miles on his body isn’t normal. Even Skip Bayless is having a hard time criticizing him at the moment.
The GOAT debate will always follow James. His accolades will never stack up to Jordan’s given the magnitude, but he’s hoping to make heavy inroads into earning every accolade over a period of time we’ve never seen before. Maybe he could’ve won more over his career, but a Year 21 MVP push will be insane to witness.
Could LeBron James Have An MVP Argument?
Arenas never answered the question, but we can discuss it here. After his recent spike in production, it’s clear that James is still among the best players in the league and is locking up a 20th-straight All-NBA selection, provided he stays healthy. His season averages of 26.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.5 assists on 58.6% from the field are impressive, but the Lakers’ 8-6 record should hold him back from early MVP conversations.
His impact on the floor is clear, with James being a +66 on the court this season. He is the Lakers’ offensive engine, being able to be the perfect connective player in a play drawn up for someone else or setting up his teammates to be in the right spot to convert open looks. His impact on the court at his age is baffling.
Many argue that James should have way more than four MVPs, and if he keeps performing like this and the Lakers rise up the conference, the voters may be swayed to vote for him.
Among front-runners right now, James has comparable statistics to Jayson Tatum’s 28.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists on 50.7% from the field. They both have the same usage rate (30.1%), though Tatum averages more touches and James converts more based on points per possession. I am not saying LeBron has been better than Tatum so far, but he can be in the conversation if his production can hold steady.
The way James has scored in every season of his career, it’s safe to say he will aim to end the season with a 25-point average or higher. Hopefully, his team wins enough to at least bring him into the conversation once again, even though it’ll be 16 years removed from his first MVP win.
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