- LeBron James is one of the greatest players in NBA history
- LeBron became the youngest player to win a fourth MVP award in 2013, aged just 28
- James hasn’t won the award since then
LeBron James won his fourth MVP award in 2013 when he was only 28 years old. Had someone told you at the time that he wouldn’t win another in 10 years, you’d have thought they were crazy, but that’s exactly what has happened. While James hasn’t won the award since, he has actually come fairly close a few times.
Let’s take a look at LeBron’s MVP ranking since he entered the league in 2003 to 2023:
2003-04 Season
MVP Ranking: 9th (11 points)
Stats: 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.7 blocks per game
2004-05 Season
MVP Ranking: 6th (93 points)
Stats: 27.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 2.2 steals, 0.7 blocks per game
2005-06 Season
MVP Ranking: 2nd (688 points)
Stats: 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.8 blocks per game
2006-07 Season
MVP Ranking: 5th (183 points)
Stats: 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.7 blocks per game
2007-08 Season
MVP Ranking: 4th (438 points)
Stats: 30.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 1.1 blocks per game
2008-09 Season
MVP Ranking: 1st (1,172 points)
Stats: 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 1.1 blocks per game
2009-10 Season
MVP Ranking: 1st (1,205 points)
Stats: 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.0 blocks per game
2010-11 Season
MVP Ranking: 3rd (522 points)
Stats: 26.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
2011-12 Season
MVP Ranking: 1st (1,074 points)
Stats: 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.8 blocks per game
2012-13 Season
MVP Ranking: 1st (1,207 points)
Stats: 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.9 blocks per game
2013-14 Season
MVP Ranking: 2nd (891 points)
Stats: 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.3 blocks per game
2014-15 Season
MVP Ranking: 3rd (552 points)
Stats: 25.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.6 steals, 0.7 blocks per game
2015-16 Season
MVP Ranking: 3rd (631 points)
Stats: 25.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
2016-17 Season
MVP Ranking: 4th (333 points)
Stats: 26.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
2017-18 Season
MVP Ranking: 2nd (738 points)
Stats: 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.9 blocks per game
2018-19 Season
MVP Ranking: T11 (1 point)
Stats: 27.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
2019-20 Season
MVP Ranking: 2nd (753 points)
Stats: 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks per game
2020-21 Season
MVP Ranking: T13 (1 point)
Stats: 25.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.6 blocks per game
2021-22 Season
MVP Ranking: T10 (1 point)
Stats: 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.1 blocks per game
2022-23 Season
MVP Ranking: NA (0 points)
Stats: 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game
2022-23 would end up being the first time in his career that LeBron didn’t even get an MVP vote, ending an astonishing run of 19 seasons where he at least got one.
There were some near misses for the award here for James, and we made the case that LeBron could have won five more NBA MVPs, which would have seen him have the most in league history.
There are two big reasons why he hasn’t managed to win the award since then.
One is voter fatigue, and that’s something that a lot of these all-time greats face. Once LeBron won four MVPs (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013) in five seasons between 2008-09 and 2012-13, the voters started looking elsewhere.
There were too many good players who had never won the award and were having great seasons, which netted them MVP. James Harden is perhaps a good example of that in this regard, with LeBron finishing runner-up to him in 2018.
The other reason is that James has been coasting in the regular season for years now. His focus has been on the playoffs, which has led to his teams not always being at the top in the regular season.
The MVP is a regular season award at the end of the day and the fact is that in a lot of these seasons, someone has managed to outperform him and take home the award.
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