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LeBron James leads all NBA players as 100 media members vote on MVP so far this season

Published by

Justin Benjamin

February 10, 2021 6:31 pm

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.

Justin Benjamin

Justin’s enormous respect for LeBron James has ignited him to write for the King and Lakers. His all-around analysis and heart for the game has made him a stellar NBA writer and proud staff writer for Lakers Daily.