After a decisive Game 1 win over the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals, Lakers forward LeBron James was asked about finishing as the runner-up to Giannis Antetokounmpo for the 2019/20 NBA MVP award.
The four-time MVP did not mince words about the results, taking particular exception with the final tally.
“Pissed me off. That’s my true answer,” James said, per ESPN. “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.”
When it comes down to sheer impact, James has been in the MVP discussion nearly every season of his NBA career. Statistically, James had another dominant year in 2019/20 as he led the league in assists (10.2 APG) while averaging 25.3 PPG and 7.8 RPG for the Lakers.
Additionally, the Lakers made the playoffs for the first time since 2013 and were the Western Conference’s first seed for the first time since 2010. Ultimately, it was Antetokounmpo who took home the honors for the second year in a row. The Greek Freak also joined Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to ever win Defensive Player of the Year and MVP honors in the same campaign.
“I’m not going to sit up here and talk about what the criteria should be or what it is. It’s changed over the years since I’ve gotten into the league,” James added. “Sometimes it’s the best player on the best team. Sometimes it’s the guy with the best season statistically. Sometimes … I mean, you don’t know. You don’t know. But you know, Giannis had a hell of a season; I can definitely say that.”
Shut up James. Do what your good at. Play basketball!
Who cares about MVPs. I thought it’s all about the rings.
Why do you think he’s so pissed off? He doesn’t have the Rings to compete in the all time greatest discussion. So he feels he needs MVPs racked up to help him out. That’s why he’s pissed off to tell the truth.
LeBron wasn’t even the best player on his team! Anthony Davis scores more, rebounds more, more block shots and more steals.
I believe you meant shut up and dribble…
Stop complaining all the time LeBron
All this complaining you think he was in a game LOL.
Jordon?
Jordan is the GOAT, not LeBron, who isn’t even top 3 all-time.
His comment was about the spelling. You’d think that Hoops Rumors could spell the guy’s name correctly, no?
Jordan would misspell the writer’s name 10 out of 10 times. 24-hr news feeds, don’t expect 100% error free reports. There’s a place in hell with a hot poker for grammar police.
I would argue there is a place in hell for morons whom misuse the language and then shame others who use it correctly.
Which players are your top 3 of all time? Harden, Westbrook, and Danuel House?
Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..really wasn’t close this year….at all. Giannis crushed lbj in almost every stat.
Certainly not assists and leadership, which has no stat.
Assists are a stat….. lol
I think he meant leadership has no stat.
So if leadership has no stat, how does one measure it? Would it be team record? If so, giannis has that too
Giannis also got swept out of the playoffs as a number one seed. Hard to say his leadership was great when you disappoint like that.
LeBron has Davis who is the best player on the Lakers. Giannis doesn’t have a another great player to bail him out. Put Giannis and Davis on the same team they would be the best team in the NBA.
Well, when they start calculating playoff exits in mvp voting your point will make sense. Pay attention to the thread lol.
Leadership?! He’s a crybaby and have you ever heard him in a huddle trying to puNo up his team? He’s horrible.
He influences others, what leadership means. But I would like to hear our description which is garbled there. puNo?
It says, “Lakers forward LeBron James WAS ASKED…”
Yet, people in these comments act like he came out with a statement, unprovoked, about the final mvp voting.
The hate for this man is REAL… #stupid.
Jealousy plain and simple and it’ll be even greater when he holds the finals MVP and Championship trophy next month!!!!!
Excellent comment! Some clown even said he’s not in the top 3 all time. Really? Jordan, LeBron, and Kobe in any order.
This comment was a reply to jump shot.
Nope what about Chamerlain or Russel? They had to change the rules because of Wilt.
Jordan, Wilt and Kareem with even Bill Russel who won 11 rings and one as a player coach are above LeBron and Kobe.
Jokic, Tatum and Butler can also say they are better than Harden
Harden won 1 game in the 2nd round
Why did he have so many votes?
Because it’s a regular season award?
Shhh. Don’t wake him up.
LOL people gonna hate but where is Giannis now? Kawhi or Harden? LeBron is right. He is the MVP.
the award is based on the regular season not the playoffs.
Yes we all know that. The playoffs just reinforce his point. Please spare me your “Bucks are not a good team” takes, they won the most games in the sport.
What if LeBron team was out in the first round?
Is he mad？
Regular season MVP is all about playoffs？
This comment section is going to be in tears when LeBron wins the title lol.
There were people here convinced the Nuggets were a bad matchup for them lmao.
why? if they win congrats. he very well could be MVP of the playoffs but the award handed out was for the regular season. he wasn’t good enough.
Were Giannis regular season numbers skewed just as the playoffs showed his teams W-L record obviously was?
They were skewed, just imagine his stats if he’d played as many minutes as LeBron and Harden.
Is this correct？
MVP means 90% playoffs and 10% regular season
Westbrook is MVP
How many games did he win in playoffs？
He is available for trade again
Sillivan !!!!!!
I think it’s been mentioned a few times here on Hoops rumors and practically everywhere else in the universe, that they vote on the MVP I think after the regular season ends. They just don’t reveal the winner till further along in the playoffs. I believe that’s for all the awards and then they stagger the announcements.
You must have seen that somewhere already? I know you do a lot of NBA reading and research you must have seen it somewhere. MVP is for the regular-season by itself. Nothing to do with playoffs. Same as defensive player and all the other stuff, Rookie of the Year, most improved Etc.
Giannis more points, more rebounds, better defensively and does not have another star player. LeBron can cry all he wants, the Greek Freak was the right call
Khris Middleton is an all star. Giannis also has an earlier exit.
Eastern Conference All-Star. Big difference. But he’s a handy little sidekick. The Bucks just don’t have enough of those until after they trade Giannis away. You certainly won’t improve enough with the talk of improving the current roster around Giannis. Who you going to add, one medium Eastern Conference All-Star type and maybe another role player? Not going to get it done. They already tried that Brook Lopez Eric Bledsoe Etc. Waste another year next year and then Giannis walks away for nothing.
I thought Milwaukee was 10 deep????
LBJ really has no grounds to be mad here. He’s largely always wanted to play with other stars, which I don’t fault him for. The catch there is if you take Giannis off the Bucks they’re in a way worse position than if you take James off the Lakers. Hence, Giannis gets a majority of the 1st place votes.
He was asked though, and he’s entitled to his opinion. No salt here. Just stating how I see it.
You take giannis off bucks they still make playoffs in East. Not true for lakers without lebron.. west is just better teams..
No way Bucks win without Giannis. Giannis played hurt in the playoffs. They couldn’t win without him being 100%. Davis is the glue to the Lakers. They always lose when he has a bad game. Take Davis out of the Lakers and they don’t make the playoffs.
James won’t even play on a team unless they can get him another superstar. Giannis does it with a very mediocre supporting cast. Giannis is the MVP by the definition of the award.
He signed with lakers without a 2nd star.. next dumb comment
Everybody on the face of the planet knew Anthony Davis was coming to the Lakers. You must be the only one that didn’t know that was going to happen BEFORE LEBRON SIGNED. You’re not serious are you?
Actually everyone thought Paul George was to be the other, and waiting on Davis would take two years off of James’ 3+1 contract. The Pels had no intention of letting Davis go early… until they got a new GM!
I understand & totally agree with LBJ! Most people here can’t read or understand what they read or both.
LBJ agrees that Giannis was the better man & won.
Congrats to Giannis for a well deserved trophy.
What he complains is about the criteria, & WE, ALL OF US, know that the criteria sucks, as simple as.
That is why we have so many arguments about who is MVP, who is All-NBA, who is All-Star… because the league changes the boundaries all the time & don’t make them known.
IMO the problem is that is based on opinions, & we all like different things or value different things, hence why I don’t rely on my opinions to chose who I think should win the awards.
I always base my lists on statistics, whether we agree that is best or not, it is something tangible & that all players can be measured by the same rule. Then you have always one criteria that don’t change.
To sum up the league should choose one stat or a combination of stats & based on that you choose your awards, regardless of things that can’t be measured like leadership, team success & so on…
Anyway that has always been my opinion!
The criteria has been subjective forever. Does He think he should of won last year when he quit on the team and acted like a baby because he didn’t have “ his teammates.” He is a freak and one of the greatest to ever play I just can’t stNd to hear his constant whining. Had he had Jordan’s or Kobe’s killer instinct he would of had 8 titles. He doesn’t come close. Also every call and his constant complaining about those calls have grown very old. Every call is a reaction.
Honestly this guy is full of himself. Just shut up and play ball.
Taking one look at the back of his jersey in the bubble tells you everything you need to know about LeBron James.
He’s just more honest. He’s a basketball player; they all want to win. He was asked, he answered, didn’t lie.
Some people want to hear the lies… or silence.
LBJ never complained about the MVP criteria when he won the award. He come off as being all about himself and his legacy relative to the GOAT arguments. The time to argue the latter (if he wants to be the one arguing on his behalf) is AFTER he retires. Not before.
LeBron should have said I am happy to be in the running. Instead he believes the hype. He trip a player the other day in the playoffs that was so obvious and he still claim he didn’t. He only cares about himself.
Imagine that, being the best player in the world.
Love how much Warrior fans hate Lebron. He stopped a 4 peat and came straight to your division. Let the salt flow through you.
I’m a Warriors fan. I don’t hate LeBron. I think he’s amazing and unselfish on the floor. He doesn’t need to score 30 a game to be happy. He’s much more happy Distributing and making other players better.
But as with any player, I really don’t like his barking at the referees and complaining when he doesn’t get a call. Some guys complain every time a foul is called on them. Andre Iguodala on the Warriors did that way too much and Danny Green does it every time. But LeBron complains when the whistle DOESN’T blow. To me that blows LOL.
It’s almost as bad as Chris Paul who I don’t like when he does it also. Puts a sour stench on his overall image and game. But other than that Chris Paul has had a great year and he’s a outstanding basketball player and so is LeBron. And again I’m a Warriors fan. Don’t group everyone together into one category and label them with a certain characteristic. That doesn’t go over well in this day and age.
No hate the truth about LeBron. He left the Cavs to win a championship in Miami. Left Miami when they went down hill to join a team with a bunch of #1 draft picks and had the GM over spend to get players around him. Took off once they could win to LA. Con Davis to come to LA to build a championship team. He is a carpet bagger is my point. Watch how much he whine to Refs all game long. Do a count for me in game 2 how many times he complains. I dare you to count the cries to Refs.
Always looking to measure his manhood and do what he always does, cry like a little girl when things don’t go his way. He’ll MEVER be able to touch Jordan’s legacy
*never
Never be able to touch Jordan’s legacy? The conversation has been happening for the last 5 years. Have you been hiding under a rock? It’s even right here in this thread. LeBron James is always in the conversation with Michael Jordan for goat.
No, he’s not even close to Jordan. LeBron still has a way to go before he’s even in the discussion for being in the top 5 with Jordan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, and Bill Russell.
Bird??? He only won 3 he’s NOT in the conversation.
Still irrelevant even fixed. DXC was wrong, saying “it came off as”, then making it about what DXC wants it to be about. Jordan’s legacy is not the point. James is standing there being honest & open, and people project?
Jordan liked his manhood, his calls, his ways. He is/was better educated than James, but people would rather lionize him in their favorite ways.
Such a diva.
The only reason they gave him 2nd place over Harden, who is clearly a better player right now, was because they knew that it was the last time that LeBron was ever going to be an MVP Finalist. Next year Giannis and Harden will still be two of the three finalists, but Luka will replace LeBron as the third.
Harden….lol
You do realize Luka is already better than Harden, right?
This is coming from a lifelong Rockets hater…Luka us a great young player and probable 2nd best player in the game for years to come but he hasn’t reached Harden’s level yet.
Bron has a right to be upset. So what he wanted more first place votes. Who cares, I don’t. Giannis is clearly the MVP this yr. Bron just trying to motivate himself. Lakers still playing Bucks are watching. I think he’s making a point. He can still get the other MVP trophy this yr. If you are a real fan here. There’s not one of you. Who doesn’t take either one on your team today. Bron has big opportunity here with Clippers out the way. And he knows it. He’s gearing up for a Title run now. And he will use everything he can.
if Giannis is clearly the best player why should Lebron get any points then? that’s not how voting works. for example, if a guy is unanimous in his award, its not because everyone else sucked or he was on another planet, it just means he was clearly better in the eyes each voter. if those 16 voters actually thought Giannis was better but voted for Lebron for some reason then they weren’t voting properly.
Not a HOU hater, I really don’t care about them, but I am a huge fan of Harden, the guy is a beast! Just see how Luka affects much more the game! Luka will be an MVP soon enough! Oh BTW DAL will be having much more playoff success than HOU also soon enough!
So glad the right guy won it. Not the guy who thinks he controls the refs and nba.