J.R. Smith Comments on LeBron James' 2015 NBA MVP Credentials

J.R. Smith believes Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James should be the 2015 NBA Most Valuable Player despite a conversation that's more often surrounded Golden State's Stephen Curry, Houston's James Harden and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook in recent weeks.  

Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com passed along comments Smith made following the Cavs' victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday. When asked about James, his feelings were crystal clear: "Who? The real MVP? There's a lot of speculation about who should get the award, but we all know who the real MVP is."

He went on the explain why James could be handed the hardware on an annual basis, per McMenamin:

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In actuality, if you really wanted to, you could give it to him every year. I mean, the numbers, what he does for teams. You see one year removed from a team like Miami—and they probably won't even make the playoffs—to a team that hasn't made the playoffs since he left and then, all of the sudden, we're a 52-win team. So, I don't think you can do that with anybody else that's in our league right now.

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James, who already has four MVP trophies on his resume, is averaging 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds this season. To Smith's point, Cleveland has gone from a 33-win team to the second seed in the Eastern Conference following his return to the franchise.

A case could certainly be made for voter fatigue. James makes an extremely strong case for MVP every season. So when players like Curry and Harden manage to pose a serious challenge for the award, sometimes the fact the Cavs star is so consistently great works against him.

At the very least, the high number of contenders adds to the intrigue of this year's voting. Smith certainly knows who would be atop his ballot. We'll see if the voters agree.