Sometimes, we tend to take players for granted. It happened with those we didn’t like when they were playing and we missed them once they were gone, and it’s happening now to LeBron James.
Yes, despite being one of the most beloved, respected, and looked up to players in the history of basketball, people are somehow still sleeping on him. And that’s why he didn’t get an MVP vote in the GM survey.
Even so, Shannon Sharpe pointed out something that makes perfect sense: LeBron James shouldn’t get MVP votes, that’s just not the norm for a guy that’s been around for 18 seasons:
“We have never seen a guy play that well in year 18,” Sharpe said on Undisputed. “And there haven’t been a lot of guys — we look at Kobe, we look at Dirk, we look at Kareem, that was playing at this level in year 18. So, we’re just gonna forget that just happened?”
Moreover, Sharpe believes that the fact that LeBron was still considered a top-5 player in the league despite having 18 seasons under his belt is testament to his greatness:
“Now, he’s heading into year 19. He didn’t get an MVP vote but I feel very comfortable saying no one into Year 19 has more expectations. Kobe was voted the 40th-best player in year 19. Dirk Nowitzki was a shell of himself, Tim Duncan was a shell of himself,” Sharpe continued. “These are the expectations. We’re talking about LeBron James not getting an MVP vote but he was still voted a top 5 player. No other historically great player has been voted this high in year 19.”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1445766946461388803
James was a legit MVP candidate last season before being hurt, and he looks slimmer and more motivated than ever heading into this season.
We’ve seen older players win MVPs earlier in history, so maybe we shouldn’t rule The King out of the conversation just yet.
