"King James is the MVP so far this season" - Metta World Peace makes bold statement about LeBron James' MVP shouts, despite the LA Lakers star playing significantly lesser games than others
LeBron James was recently named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week after leading the LA Lakers to a 3-1 record. James is finally looking healthy, with former Lakers player Metta Sandiford-Artest naming him the MVP of the season so far.
James averaged 28.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks last week. He also shot 60.8% from the field and 41.7% from threes, helping the Lakers to a 3-1 record with wins over the Boston Celtics, OKC Thunder and Orlando Magic.
Apparently, it was enough to convince Metta Sandiford-Artest to name LeBron James as the MVP of the season so far. The man formerly known as Metta World Peace showed his appreciation of LeBron on Twitter.
@KingJames is MVP so far this season.
For the season, LeBron James is averaging 26.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. It's a typical LeBron stat line, but it's even more impressive given that he's in his 19th season in the NBA and he'll turn 37 years old on December 30th.
The only problem with giving James the early season MVP is the Lakers are playing terribly and he played in fewer games. The Lakers are 15-13 despite acquiring Russell Westbrook in the offseason, while LeBron missed 12 games this season due to an ankle injury, an abdominal strain and a one-game suspension.
LeBron James not among the MVP favorites this season
LeBron James is not one of the favorites to win the MVP this season. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets are the top two favorites to win the award. Curry and Durant have their teams atop the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively.
Other MVP favorites are Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks, Paul George of the LA Clippers and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, as per the latest Las Vegas odds. James is next on the list, among other stars such as Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.
The chef keeps on cooking 🧑🏼🍳
Steph hangs on to the top spot on this week's @Kia MVP Ladder: on.nba.com/3rVzgWc https://t.co/oYUYpGJUOJ
Even the NBA's Kia MVP Ladder does not have LeBron James in their top ten list. Curry and Durant occupied the first and second spots, followed by Giannis, Jokic and Chris Paul.
The top ten is rounded out by Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls, and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
Nevertheless, the MVP odds are going to change as the season progresses. LeBron James still has a long shot to win MVP if he can somehow lead the Lakers to a better record at the end of the season. And in fairness to LeBron, he should have won more than four MVPs during his career.
"Is LeBron the best player in the league? No, I think it's Giannis. But the demise of LeBron James has been slightly overrated. ... We're still holding LeBron to slightly different standard than we even hold Steph Curry to, who might win MVP this year." — @getnickwright https://t.co/nmymPidRxm