LeBron James Thinks Stephen Curry Deserved MVP, But Maybe Wasn’t the Most ‘Valuable’ Player This Season
LeBron James is no stranger to award ceremonies. He’s accomplished amazing things over the course of his career, including four NBA Most Valuable Player Awards—as known as the MVP. Now, with Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Stephen Curry having won the award the last two seasons, James would like to open a friendly discussion as to the meaning of the word “Valuable.”
“I think there’s a lot of valuable guys in our league that adds value to their team,” said LeBron after practice Wednesday.
But don’t get it mixed up, LeBron isn’t upset with Curry winning the award this season. He saw it coming.
“I think he definitely deserved it. You look at Steph’s numbers; he averaged 30 [points per game]; he led the league in steals; he was 90-50-50 [shooting percentage from the free throw line, field, and 3-point line, respectively]; and they won 73. So, I don’t, do you have any debate over that, really, when it comes to that award?”
No, we don’t. We were asking yo…
“I think sometimes the word ‘valuable’ or best player of the year, you can have different results,” continued LeBron. “When you talk about most ‘valuable’ then you can have a different conversation.”
LeBron finished this season with about 25 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, numbers that we’ve all come to expect from The King. But maybe that’s the problem—we’re used to LeBron’s greatness.
While Curry is shattering his own 3-point records, LeBron is still playing at the highest level. But does Curry’s performance, because of the 402 made three-pointers or the 73 wins, makes him that much better than LeBron to win the award unanimously? LeBron came within one vote of that honor a few years ago, but he lost that one vote to Carmelo Anthony.
Another question. If the Warriors are still a great team without Curry, does that make him any less valuable? I have a hard time seeing the Cleveland Cavaliers make the playoffs without LeBron, as neither Kyrie Irving nor Kevin Love could do it on their own before.
I’m just speculating, of course. Maybe I’m just trolling. But either way, the voters do need to decide whether this award belongs to the “Most Valuable Player” of the year or simply the best.