Getty Images Kyle Kuzma of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates a play with teammate LeBron James.
LeBron James already has four MVPs on his mantle but his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Kyle Kuzma thinks there should be at least a few more.
At 36 years old, James is an MVP frontrunner, averaging 25.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists. What might be equally impressive is that in 18th season, James has only missed one game, helping keep the Lakers among the top teams in the Western Conference with Anthony Davis banged up.
James delivered one of his best performances of the season against Charlotte on Friday, recording 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, promoting Kuzma to start the MVP campaign for “The King.”
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“The NBA MVP is a very political award,” Kuzma told reporters on Friday, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Bron should have been the MVP at least eight, nine, 10 times. Everybody knows that.”
Kuzma previously backed James for the NBA’s All-Defensive Team.
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James has said in the past that he doesn’t care about MVP awards but agreed with Kuzma.
“I should have more than four, I believe,” James said. “I don’t sit around thinking about it or crying about it, or whatever the case may be. I just try to come in the next season and be the MVP and be talked about [for] it again. I bet a lot of the greatest that played this game feel like they should have more as well, if you ask any one of those guys.
“This is another opportunity for me to able to be recognized as the best player for that particular season, and this season. So, hopefully, I can continue to just play great basketball and see what happens at the end.”
LeBron James Was ‘Pissed Off’ Over MVP Voting Last Season
GettyLeBron James with Giannis Antetokounmpo.
James finished second in MVP voting last season, behind Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who repeated for the award. James didn’t get upset about finishing second, but because of the lack of first-place votes he received.
“Pissed me off. That’s my true answer,” James said. “It pissed me off because out of 101 votes, I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything. Not saying that the winner wasn’t deserving on the MVP. But that pissed me off.
I finished second a lot in my career, either as a championship or now four times as the MVP, you know, like I said, I never came into this league saying I’m gonna be MVP or be a champion, I just want to get better and better every day and those things will take care of itself. But there are some things out of your hands, some things you can’t control. But it pissed me off.”
James has a chance to be the most decorated player in NBA history when he hangs it up. He already has the four MVPs on his resume, as well as four NBA Finals MVP awards. He’s a 17-time All-Star and 13-time All-NBA First Team selections.
Frank Vogel: LeBron ‘Doing it All’ for Lakers
GettyLos Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
James has taken on a larger role with Anthony Davis out and the only game he missed was prior to the All-Star break, giving him an extra day of rest to recuperate. While there have been some concerns about his minutes, he has shown no signs of slowing down and has the Lakers 1.5 games out of the top spot in the Western Conference.
“He’s playing every night, setting a great tone, I think, for young players and the whole league that, if he feels good, he’s going to be in there and he’s going to compete at a super-high level and dominate the game,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel told reporters. “He’s the MVP of the league, in my opinion, thus far because of that mindset and what he’s doing for our team and he just wins the game in so many different ways.”
James is the favorite (+180) and his top competition for the award is 76ers big man Joel Embiid and Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic. Embiid — who is currently out for a few weeks with a knee injury — was the favorite at one point, but has dropped to +650. Jokic is listed at +200, per Odds Shark.
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