NBA MVP watch: LeBron James
In the conversation around the greatest basketball player in history, two names are always present for consideration: Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
LeBron James is currently in his 16th season in the NBA, and has completed the fairy tale so many predicted by coming to the Los Angeles Lakers with the mission to bring glory back to the purple and gold.
Last season, LeBron took the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals, with not too much help from his teammates. Lebron ended last season with a regular season stat line of 27.5 PPG, 8.6 RPG & 9.1 APG, and a playoff stat line of a huge 34 PPG, 9.1 RPG & 9.0 APG, and at 33 years of age was an MVP finalist.
Lebron currently has 4 x NBA MVPs and everyone wondered what this new path as part of the Lakers would bring to him. There were questions around whether Lebron was coming to the Lakers to have a year of coasting after carrying the Cavs on his shoulders last season, or if he would come and bring another All-Star player with him to fight for a championship in LA, and there were even questions surrounding the signings the Lakers made around Lebron.
Through the first part of the season, it seemed like some of those questions were starting to be answered, and it didn't look good for LeBron and the Lakers. There were questions around if LeBron can play with the other young pieces the Lakers have, or if he, in fact, was just coasting through, but in the last through the last stretch, Lebron has shown that he is ready to play.
Lebron's current stat line sits at 28.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG & 7.1 APG, and in a game against the Miami Heat, he recorded 51 Pts! Lebron looks like he has kicked into gear, and is looking to make his mark on the Lakers, and if he continues at his current pace he may well be in the MVP conversation towards the end of the season.
When the some of the contracts that the Lakers signed in the offseason are eligible to be traded in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers add another star to assist LeBron, and if this helps LeBron to keep at his current form. LeBron deserves to be in the conversation about the greatest player of all time, and may be looking to add another MVP to his belt.