When It Comes To The MVP Award LeBron Says Four Is Not Enough
LeBron James is one of the greatest and dominant players that has ever played in the NBA. He has won the most valuable player award four times so far in his 18-year career and has proven he is the exception, not the rule. LeBron’s four MVP award ranks fourth in the number of cumulative All-Time winners for the award but recently LeBron has brought to the Media and fan’s attention that he feels four isn’t enough for a player of his caliber. In a post-game interview after a win versus the Charlotte, Hornets LeBron was very candid when asked by reporters if there a number he feels that he should have won in reference to MVP awards.
LeBron may have a valid argument as there are definitely more than four times where he was the most valuable player in the league. LeBron does everything for his team on the court night after night with consistency that only All-Time greats can offer. It’s Time to take a look back on two of the years that LeBron deserved more consideration for MVP than what he got.
Did Derick Rose Steal LeBron’s MVP in 2011
This is one of the most controversial MVP races in recent history and honestly could have gone either way. LeBron James had just come off two consecutive MVP seasons and was making a solid case for three in a row. While Derick Rose was in his third year in the league as one of the most exciting and explosive young guards in the NBA. Rose averaged 25 points per game, 7.7 assists per game, and 4.1 rebounds while leading the Chicago Bulls to the best record in the league at 62-20. LeBron James averaged 26.7 points per game, 7.0 assists per game, and 7.0 rebounds for the Miami Heat in his first season with the Star-studded team leading them to a 58-24 record
This was LeBron’s first year in Miami after breaking the hearts of every basketball fan in Cleveland on National TV with The Decision. The Heat were the most hated team in sports at the time after they formed a dominant trio of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James. The Heat also weren’t shy about the championships they planed to win together at their welcome party. LeBron was seen as a villain in the NBA and Derick Rose was the homegrown savior in Chicago doing everything in his power to propel the team towards championship contention.
The narrative for Rose was just too powerful and convenient even LeBron’s Teammate Chris Bosh said he would have voted for Rose. Maybe it was due to voter fatigue or maybe it was due to the Heatles vs everyone else narrative but LeBron was completely overlooked as an option for MVP in 2011. Derick rose won with 113 first-place votes for the award compared to LeBron James with 4.
Kyrie Goes To Bat For His Former Teammate In The 2018 MVP Race
Kyrie Irving is often in the news for saying and doing the wrong things. But once in a radio station interview given to Hot 97. Kyrie gave a very insightful point in defense of his former teammate LeBron James. Kyrie spoke on the MVP race saying “MVP, it’s hard to gauge nowadays. Because now you have the people’s MVP and you have, like the NBA’s MVP,”. He followed it up in reference to the current MVP race at the time by saying “I think the people’s MVP was definitely James Harden, but the NBA MVP is definitely LeBron James”.
James Harden won the 2018 MVP award averaging 30 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, and 8.8 assists per game leading the Houston Rockets to a franchise-best record of 65-17. Harden had a great year mixed with team success which made him an instant front runner for the award. But another factor that had to play the part was the number of snubs harden took before he won the award. Harden was the runner-up in the past two seasons losing to Stephen curry twice. So Kyrie may be right, Harden was the people’s MVP and no performance LeBron James put on that season would have changed anything.
LeBron had a great season in 2018 considering the Cleveland Cavaliers were awful sans LeBron. After Trading their star point guard Kyrie Irving the responsibility lied solely on LeBron to carry this team to another winning season. LeBron rose to the challenge averaging 27.5 points per game, 9.1 assists per game, and 8.6 rebounds per game. The Cavaliers were expected to win 43 games and finished with 50 due to LeBron James’s heroic efforts. However, the Cavaliers were the fourth seed, and historically speaking that is too low for an MVP award.
