Why You Can't Convince LeBron James He's Not MVP

The award window for the 2019-20 NBA season may be closed, but the campaigning has just begun.

The NBA announced that all award voting will be based on play prior to the restart. It makes sense on the surface, as the four-month layoff the league has experienced because of the coronavirus pandemic has essentially made this a brand-new season. An eight-game sample shouldn't tilt the scales on season-long awards, especially when those awards will have financial and historical implications.

That brings us to this year's MVP race, a loosely contested battle between Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James. 

Whether you're looking at betting odds or prominent media straw polls, Giannis appears to be the heavy favorite to bring home the MVP trophy for a second consecutive year. It's for good reason. His averages—29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks in 30.9 minutes—are unprecedented. That, combined with his team's success (53-12), makes the MVP race a formality in the minds of many.

Just…maybe not LeBron's.

His case is strong in its own right, and it appeared he was closing the gap before the season was shut down. When asked about his disappointment level of the award race ending, LeBron said: 

"I'm not disappointed, because things happen. Control what you can control, and I can't control that. As far as the MVP race, I've shown what I'm capable of doing, not only individually but from a team perspective. ... There was a lot of conversation about, 'LeBron can do those things in the East, but if he ever came to the West, what can he do?' I heard all of that. To be able to have our team at the top of the Western Conference and playing the way that we were playing at that time and the way I was playing, that's definitely a good feeling." 

LeBron has absolutely shown us what he's "capable of doing, not only individually but from a team perspective." He's filled the stat sheet, averaging 25.7 points, 10.6 assists, 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest. Only two other players have matched those averages in a season: James Harden (2016-17) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17, 2017-18).

Much has been made of LeBron's position change to point guard this year, but functionally, he has always run his team's offense, even if he used to do so more passively. 

His 10.6 assists are a career high, eclipsing his 9.1 mark during the 2017-18 season. Not only is his 49.7 assist rate a career high, but he's now one of five players in NBA history to post an assist rate over 45 while also averaging at least 25 points.

All season, LeBron has had to operate with an almost nonexistent margin for error offensively. Per PBP Stats, over 40 percent of his minutes have coincided with two of Anthony Davis, JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard being on the floor. McGee and Howard are both vertical spacers who offer nothing in the way of shooting. Davis can shoot, though he's never shot better than 34 percent from deep in any season.

Yet the Lakers have scored at an elite clip despite the cluttered frontcourt. They have generated an offensive rating of 117.4 with the LeBron-Davis-McGee trio on the floor. That number dips to 116.8 when McGee is swapped for Howard. And as dominant as the LeBron-Davis pairing has been together (plus-11.26), the Lakers have actually been a smidge better with LeBron running the show without him.

LeBron is, and has always been, the constant for his team's success.

As he mentioned in his response, his success coming in the West made it extra special. And if you missed it in his response, you probably caught it on Twitter:

After nearly a decade of ruling the Eastern Conference, including eight straight Finals appearances, LeBron has lifted the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference at 49-14. He and the Lakers did miss the playoffs during the 2018-19 season, though that spoke more to an uncharacteristic slip in health—LeBron missed a career-high 27 games—than anything.

(I also would not disagree with the notion that LeBron deserves some flak for his defensive showing, as well as his alleged role in the Lakers' public trade negotiations with the Pelicans during the season.) 

Not only has LeBron balled out for a Western Conference team, but he's performed particularly well against West teams. His scoring and assist averages are higher against the West, as is his plus-minus. Some of his best performances of the year have come against Western foes, highlighted by his 39-12-16-4-1 masterpiece against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks:

Have I mentioned he's done all of this at age 35?

Because he's done all of this at age 35.

Nobody should be surprised by LeBron's thoughts on the MVP race and his own candidacy. He understands the unique circumstances the league faces, yet he's sure to remind folks that he's heard the criticism—as silly as it may be—and has used it as fuel.

Even that descriptor sells LeBron a bit short. He isn't just using slights as motivation like most of the greats do; he's turning narratives upside down. And if anyone has experience dealing with narratives, it's LeBron.

Constant Michael Jordan comparisons—most embraced, some manufactured—are the undercurrent to all of this. LeBron has been "chasing that ghost" for the entirety of his career. Jordan's resume is daunting, highlighted by his six-of-six mark in the NBA Finals. LeBron can't eclipse that kind of perfection—he "lost" that right in the 2007 Finals. 

His path to passing Jordan comes on the margins, in single-season triumphs, in layered displays of greatness. None of that is to say that LeBron should beat out Giannis for MVP, but it does help inform why this MVP race, and this season in particular, likely means more to him than most.