The NBA announced the winner of this season’s league-MVP and it was Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks — just as many expected. The runner-up for the honor was LeBron James after his impressive performance for the Los Angeles Lakers.
While James has won the MVP award four times in his career, he’s also no stranger to finishing as the runner-up — something he has done also four times in his career. In fact, he is now tied for the most second-place finishes in MVP voting in NBA history.
When asked about not winning the MVP award, James made it clear he was most upset about only receiving 16 first-place votes out of the 101 possible.
“Pissed me off. That’s my true answer,” James said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It pissed me off, because out of 101 votes, I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything.
“You know, not saying that the winner wasn’t deserving of the MVP. But that pissed me off. And I finished second a lot in my career, either from a championship and now four times as an MVP.”
The primary objective James has is to win the NBA Finals as opposed to focusing on winning more MVPs. He has a real chance to get that done now that he’s paired with Anthony Davis and the Lakers hold a 1-0 lead over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
For LeBron James, managing to improve his NBA Finals record to 4-6 would go a long way in reinforcing his already incredible resume. Doing so with the Lakers could also potentially make him the first player to ever win a Finals MVP on three different teams.
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