LeBron James has been on a tear in recent games, posting great numbers for a 37-year-old playing in his 19th NBA season. The King is carrying the Los Angeles Lakers this campaign, putting them outside the play-in tournament, but just one game above .500.
Many people think the Lakers superstar is playing at an MVP level right now and should get consideration for the coveted award. In recent days, Bron’s name has popped up as a new MVP candidate and he’s well aware of that.
After learning he’s getting MVP buzz, James stated that being in the convo means the Lakers are winning games, which makes him very happy. He’s focused on helping his team however he can and is happy to still be playing at the highest level at his age.
“I think when you are placed in the MVP conversation, that means that your team is winning games and you’re playing at a level that’s helping them win games. So, if my name starts to be in the MVP discussion, then I’m happy about it in the sense that it means the Lakers are winning basketball games. And that’s what I want. That’s all I care about…”
Some fans debated this, claiming that he must win the award or it’d be unfair, while others claim he’s not on that level yet. Shannon Sharpe, one of LeBron’s biggest defenders, belongs to the second group, as he has a trio of favorites to the prize.
Talking on a recent edition of FS1’s Undisputed, the former NFL player-turned-analyst made a case for three players not named LeBron James, blaming the Lakers’ current and future record as a major reason why Bron won’t get the award.
“Because the Lakers don’t have a good enough record and I don’t believe they are gonna have a good enough record to warrant him or justify him getting that and I get that Steph Curry finished second last year and they were in the play-in tournament. But that’s not gonna happen.”
“For me it would be KD, Giannis, DeMar DeRozan would be my top 3 right now as I sit here today.”
https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/1479122326608171008
Sharpe still gave LeBron some flowers, claiming he could finish in the top 5 of the voting, but the winner will be different. LeBron has been outside of the Top 5 in MVP voting twice in his career.
If he turns things around and takes the Lakers to the top 3 in the West, perhaps he could have a bigger chance at the award. In doing so, he would become the oldest MVP award winner of all time, surpassing Michael Jordan and Karl Malone, who both won the award at 35.
This race is still on and if The King somehow manages to make this Lakers a threat in the Western Conference, he’ll get a lot more consideration for the prize he’s won fourth times in his career.
