Lakers' LeBron James: 'It Pissed Me Off' to Lose NBA MVP to Giannis

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James finished second to Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the NBA MVP voting, and he is not happy about it.

Specifically, James has an issue with the voting margin between he (16 first-place votes) and the back-to-back MVP winner (85 first-place votes).

"Pissed me off," James said.

"That’s my true answer. It pissed me off because out of 101 votes I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything."

He added: "Let’s not get it twisted. I’m great. The voting scale is a little weird for me sometimes."

James gave credit to Antetokoumpo's "great season," according to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, but he made his feelings clear on the voting discrepancy after his team beat the Denver Nuggets 126-114 to kick off the Western Conference Finals.

James received a strong endorsement from teammate Anthony Davis, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

"There's not even a question who deserves it," Davis said. "I think if you take him off our team, we definitely take a hit."

Davis also dropped this line, per Bill Oram of The Athletic: "They kind of choose the MVP before the season even starts."

James also dived into his take on the voting process and its contradictions while bringing up some salient points, per Ben Golliver of the Washington Post.

Of note, he discussed the 2012-13 awards season when then-Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol won Defensive Player of the Year but finished second-team All-Defense.

He also talked about Charlotte Hornets guard Devonte' Graham's Most Improved Player finalist snub this year after his scoring average improved from 4.7 PPG to 18.2 PPG. 

James made his take on the first-place MVP voting gap even clearer after the press conferences with this tweet:

James may not be taking home an NBA MVP award this year, but he's in the driver's seat to win his fourth NBA title and guide L.A. to its 17th in franchise history.