Piece by Tyler Collins
King James has officially made his case for the MVP award yet again in this year's NBA season and playoffs. Although playing an awkward season in the bubble of the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on the Disney World Campus in Orlando, FL, James has proven he is the best in the league, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the number one seed in the West. It is their first playoff appearance since 2013 and their first Western Conference Final since 2010. The superstar duo Lebron James and Anthony Davis, which was assembled this year, is mimicking the Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol duo that won the finals in 2010 against the Boston Celtics. Will LeBron, AD and the rest of the Lakers repeat history a decade later? I like to think so.
Last year was a breakout year for MVP candidate Giannis Antentokounmpo, who snatched the MVP trophy a year ago with an outstanding year. Giannis has been in the league for 7 years, and put up a stellar resume this year in 2020, winning the Defensive Player of the Year. This also helps give him a chance at repeating the MVP honors. LeBron James, on the other hand, is arguably the only man standing in his way and the only candidate still in the playoffs. He is in year 17 of is tremendous, Hall-of-Fame-caliber career and looking like he is still in his prime. James averaged a double-double with 25.3 points per game, 10.2 assists per game, and 7.8 rebounds per game in the regular season and is doing just about the same in the playoffs, averaging a double-double while shooting over 55% from the field with 26.6 points per game, 8.8 assists per game, and 10.3 rebounds per game. James has been a lethal shooter, passer, and rebounder all year, constantly creating open shots for his teammates and making everyone around him a better player. He also has the highest defensive rating in this years playoffs, which means he has been a machine on both sides of the court when it matters. Playoff Bron is a real thing and I see him taking the Lakers to the finals and winning his fourth NBA championship.
Stats are there to back up LeBron winning his fifth NBA MVP, tying Michael Jordan for second most in history behind Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, who was honored with the NBA MVP award 6 times in his Hall-of-Fame career. James was also named to the All-NBA team this year for the 16th time in his career. 12 of those selections were first team. This years All-NBA first team also included other MVP candidate James Harden, who was the scoring champion for the third year in a row. Harden knows how to score, we know that, but his defense? Sub-par. We know that too. It's a hard choice for the NBA MVP this year considering all candidates are worthy of it. But at the end of the day, the best all-round player has to be LeBron James.
So far this postseason, James Harden and the Houston Rockets went to Game 7 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs with the Oklahoma City Thunder, barely skating by to face LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. After Houston took Game 1, the Lakers went ballistic beating the Rockets four times in a row and all four wins were by double digits. LeBron James is simply the better player all-round and has proved it with his incomparable leadership and dominance. And just like what one the Lakers' forwards Kyle Kuzma stated on Twitter, "Yo media, imma tell y’all this. If y’all mess up this MVP like you did the DPOY. We gonna have issues fr."
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