- Report: Russell Westbrook and Darvin Ham had ‘heated’ verbal exchange during halftime of Lakers-Thunder game
- Draymond Green calls Joe Tsai ‘petty’ for not trading Kyrie Irving to Lakers
- LeBron James says he can still win ‘any franchise’ multiple championships
- NBA players erupt as LeBron James breaks all-time scoring record
- Enes Freedom takes brutal shot at LeBron James after Lakers star breaks all-time scoring record
- Report: Jazz have had talks about sending package of rotation players to Lakers for Russell Westbrook and 2 1st-round picks
- Stephen A. Smith says Russell Westbrook has been asset off bench and should stay in L.A. for rest of season
- Report: LeBron James recently worked on skyhook shot with his trainers
- Cam Thomas jokes around after joining LeBron James in the history books: ‘I’m a Kobe guy’
- Report: People close to LeBron described January loss to Celtics as worst defeat for him mentally since J.R.’s Finals blunder
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne Admits She Voted LeBron James for MVP for Not-So-Popular Reason
- Updated: August 12, 2020
With the 2019-20 NBA regular season finally nearing its end, the debate continues over who should win the league’s MVP award.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne admitted that she voted for Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, although it had little to do with his statistical production.
See it’s stuff like this that got the NBA ratings low pic.twitter.com/8zavqSO8EG
— Narrative based voter (@RetroBoominati) August 11, 2020
“I voted for LeBron James because I tend to be more of a narrative-based voter, and I feel like LeBron James took a Lakers team that had missed the playoffs six years in a row up to the top spot in the West after all of the dysfunction of the summer before,” opined Shelburne. “So I think he gets credit for that as well.”
When James first signed with the Purple and Gold two years ago, it appeared that the team was about to return to the NBA’s elite.
However, injuries to key players, including James, along with internal turmoil led to the Lakers winning just 37 games in the 2018-19 season.
Once the season ended, the Lakers acquired superstar big man Anthony Davis in early July and filled out the rest of the roster with competent role players despite a lack of salary-cap space.
With new head coach Frank Vogel leading the way, the Lakers have clinched the top seed in the Western Conference for the first time in 10 years.
Some would argue that the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo has put up more impressive stats and therefore deserves the regular season MVP. Another argument in his favor is that he doesn’t have another superstar next to him, as James does.
However, America loves a redemption story, and so far, the 2019-20 season has been just that for the Akron, Ohio native.