Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James recently earned the No. 1 spot in a recent MVP straw poll voted on by 100 media members.
“After finishing second a season ago to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who became the 12th player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVP trophies, James is back on top in ESPN’s first MVP straw poll of the season,” wrote Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com.
“To gauge where the race stands at this point in the season, ESPN asked 100 media members to participate in an informal poll that mimics the postseason awards voting. To make the balloting as realistic as possible, there are at least two voters from each of the league’s 28 markets, as well as a cross-section of both national and international reporters.”
ESPN NBA MVP Straw Poll Results
| PLAYER | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | 5TH | TOTAL VOTES |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LeBron James | 53 | 13 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 99 | 760 |
| 2 | Joel Embiid | 23 | 39 | 28 | 6 | 4 | 100 | 665 |
| 3 | Nikola Jokic | 18 | 37 | 19 | 19 | 5 | 98 | 596 |
| 4 | Kevin Durant | 3 | 8 | 18 | 25 | 21 | 75 | 272 |
| 5 | Kawhi Leonard | 1 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 30 | 64 | 153 |
| 6 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 32 | 66 |
| 7 | Stephen Curry | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 36 |
| 8 | Paul George | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 17 |
| 9 | Luka Doncic | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Jayson Tatum | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 11 | Rudy Gobert | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
| 12 | Donovan Mitchell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 13 | Damian Lillard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Mike Conley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Jaylen Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
James, 36, has not won an MVP award since the 2012-13 season.
Although James had a terrific campaign last season, he lost out to Antetokounmpo. The Milwaukee Bucks titan captured the elusive award in 2019 as well.
Now, James appears to be convincing people he’s deserving of the top honor with where he’s at in his career. He’s putting up 25.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game this season.
The Lakers hold a 19-6 record. They have the second-best record in the league.
While he didn’t earn the regular season MVP last year, James captured the 2020 Finals MVP trophy. As a matter of fact, James became the first player in NBA history to earn an Finals MVP award with three different organizations.
