Should LeBron James join Kevin Durant and Steph Curry in MVP conversation despite LA Lakers struggling?
LeBron James and the LA Lakers have drawn attention for their struggles this year.
While Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant are favorites in the chase for the MVP award, James may also be a contender despite his team's sinking fortunes.
The Lakers (17-18), who play at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, are seventh in the Western Conference. James has been impressive, nevertheless, and has shown no signs of slowing. He averages 27.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 52.0%, including 35.3% from 3-point range.
Does LeBron James have a case for MVP?
The case for LeBron James making a run at the MVP award comes down to how much he can impress with his production and play. And he's had plenty of historic runs during the regular season in his 18 previous seasons. James has been the MVP four previous times, but he's never been on a team like this one.
With Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant headlining the season, James needs to not only put together multiple impressive stretches of production, but he also needs his team to start winning more regularly.
Players who often win the award also saw their team experience great success. In the last five years, only two players have won the award without having their team finish first in their conferences. Those players are Nikola Jokic last year and LeBron's current teammate, Russell Westbrook, in 2016-17.
Jokic and Westbrook had to have historic seasons in order to receive the award.
Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic won the MVP award last year after averaging 26.4 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 8.3 apg and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 56.6% (38.8% on 3-pointers).
The player right behind him in the voting was Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid, whose team finished first in the Eastern Conference with a record of 49-23. Embiid finished with strong numbers as well, averaging 28.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 51.3% (37.7% from 3-point range).
A similar situation happened in 2016-17 with Russell Westbrook, who was playing for the OKC Thunder. Westbrook became the only player to win the award in the last five years who had a team finish worse than third in their conference.
But Westbrook's production was too impressive to ignore. He averaged 31.6 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 10.4 apg and 1.6 spg while shooting 42.5%, including 34.3% from downtown.
Right behind him in the voting was James Harden, who led the Houston Rockets (55-27) to third in the Western Conference. Harden averaged 29.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 11.2 apg while shooting 44.0%, including 34.7% from 3-point range.
LeBron James over the last 5 games:
31 Points, 14 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 52% FG
34 Points, 7 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 68% FG
36 Points, 9 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 57% FG
39 Points, 9 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 56% FG
32 Points, 11 Rebounds, 11 Assists, 58% FG https://t.co/amstIbTJiJ
If James is going to have any chance of being an MVP contender, Los Angeles is going to have to make a move in the West.
With Golden State (27-7) and Brooklyn (23-9) in the upper tier of the league, Curry and Durant are the MVP frontrunners and may only increase their odds. Time will tell if James can turn the Lakers around and find his name in the conversation as well, but that's going to be a challenging task.