LeBron James Named NBA's Best Player over Giannis in Survey of Scouts, Execs

Giannis Antetokounmpo won the NBA's last two MVP awards, but in a poll of league scouts and executives, he wasn't named the league's best player. 

In the survey, which was published Monday by ESPN's Tim Bontemps, seven of those surveyed selected LeBron James as the "best player in the NBA," while Antetokounmpo received just one vote.

Antetokounmpo also didn't get the most votes for 2021 MVP—that honor went to Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. 

Speaking of Doncic, one Eastern Conference scout suggested he might have a chance to be in the running for MVP in the next few seasons, too.

"If you put a gun to my head and you have to go win a playoff series, I'd say LeBron," the scout said. "But I'll tell you what: That motherf--ker in Dallas is coming. ... That dude is going to win multiple MVPs."

The Eastern Conference executive who had the lone vote for Antetokounmpo said his vote would change depending on what exactly the question was referring to.

"If we're talking about the best player over the course of a season, I'm not picking LeBron. If we are talking about in the playoffs, it's probably LeBron, because he always is."

James added 25.3 points with a league-leading 10.2 assists to go with 7.8 rebounds last season as the Lakers won the NBA championship. He tallied 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the postseason, averaging 36.3 minutes per game. 

Antetokounmpo, who is heading into his eighth year in the league, posted a career-best season with 29.5 points and 13.6 rebounds, adding 5.6 assists through 30.4 minutes per game for the Bucks, who fell in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Miami Heat. 

For what it's worth, Doncic, who earned his first All-Star nod last season in his sophomore campaign, posted 28.8 points and 9.4 rebounds with 8.8 assists in 33.6 minutes for the Mavericks, who fell to the Clippers in the first round of the postseason.