Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is the overwhelming favorite to win the NBA MVP Award this year, but LeBron James is casting his vote for another player.
Stephen Curry scored 46 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a huge win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. The victory secured the No. 8 seed, which means the Warriors will face the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Lakers in the play-in tournament. As far as LeBron is concerned, he’ll be squaring off against the MVP.
LeBron gave a lengthy explanation on Sunday night for why he feels Curry is this year’s NBA MVP.
“There’s nobody — everybody counted him out on this year, everybody’s saying, ‘Oh, now that Klay (Thompson) is hurt, can Steph lead the team on his own? What is he going to be able to do? Can he carry a team on his own? Can he carry a team into the postseason? Can he keep a team afloat?’ He’s done that and more. … I don’t know anything else if you’re looking for an MVP. If Steph is not on Golden State’s team, what are we looking at?” LeBron asked.
You can read more of LeBron’s explanation below:
LeBron James on why @StephenCurry30 deserves the MVP: pic.twitter.com/xwwOD5lYcU
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) May 17, 2021
Curry averaged 32.0 points per game this season, which was the highest mark of his career. He won his second NBA scoring title. There’s no question the Warriors would be out of the playoff picture without him, but there’s also a reason Jokic is the overwhelming favorite to be named MVP.
Jokic averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game in the regular season. You can easily make the argument that he was the best all-around player in the league, and the Nuggets have the No. 3 seed and are in great shape because of it.
LeBron’s high praise of Curry makes this report from earlier in the season even easier to believe.
