Getty DeMarcus Cousin, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
At the 35 years old, LeBron James is certainly one of the older players in the NBA but he’s far from the oldest. However, the Los Angeles Lakers star’s age is really showing in his beard. There’s a big gray patch in there and James hasn’t gotten rid of it.
Despite his age, James is playing as well as he ever has. In fact, he’s one of the front runners to win the league’s MVP award. Appearing on Jalen and Jacoby, James’ former teammate DeMarcus Cousins was asked what he has to do to overtake Giannis Antetokounmpo in the MVP race. “Boogie” had unique reasoning for why James is more deserving.
“Overtake him? I think he’s the MVP,” Cousins said. “He’s the only player in the league running around with gray hair. … What more do you need from him? He’s doing this with gray hair, he’s got a gray beard.”
While it’s certainly impressive what James is doing at his age, MVP voters will probably favor the player who is having a better season, regardless of age.
We got @boogiecousins on @jalenandjacoby today…FULL INTERVIEW AT 4pm on @espn…let’s gooooooooo:
Damian Lillard Agrees With Cousins
Back in May, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard picked James for MVP using a very similar rationale to Cousins.
“This season I think it’s LeBron,” Lillard said on Jalen and Jacoby. “They’re the No. 1 team in the west, they’ve been consistent all year long, and for him to be at the age he’s at with the amount of miles that he has on his body, how often he’s talked about the pressure that they’ve put on him in every little thing that he does. At the level he’s performing at, in my opinion, I think he’s the MVP.”
As with Cousins, Lillard seems to think that James’ ability to play as well as he has at his current age sets him apart. There’s no doubt he’s been one of the best players in the NBA this season but the MVP award is about the most valuable player. Age shouldn’t really factor into what makes a player the MVP. That said, James should still have a really good shot at the award.
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Will James Win MVP?
With only a handful of regular-season games left to play, the MVP award is probably already decided upon. It is a regular-season award so playoff performance won’t matter. James took the Lakers from being one of the worst teams in the NBA to the number one seed in the Western Conference. He’s 11th in pointers per game while leading the league in assist per game. Not bad for somebody who has played professional basketball for almost two decades.
James’ biggest competition for the award is the aforementioned Antetokounmpo. He won the award last year and has been even better this year. His Milwaukee Bucks are the top seed in the NBA, he’s third in points and rebounds per game and he’s a front runner for Defensive Player of the Year. Both James and Antetokounmpo have been incredibly impressive all season. However, it’s hard to imagine James has done enough to outshine the “Greek Freak.”
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