Winning the Most Valuable Player accolade is considered the highest individual-level honor in the league. However, a select few have bagged it multiple times, including the greats like LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal. However, as someone said, ‘only madmen and fools are satisfied’, the four-time MVP still isn’t content. On a recent episode of ‘The Shop’, the Lakers superstar let out his frustration about being robbed of an opportunity to become the first unanimous NBA MVP.
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In the history of the league, there has been only one athlete who won the MVP title unanimously. Stephen Curry pulled off this remarkable feat in the 2015-16 season for the Warriors where he received all the votes for the title after he led the league in scoring and joined the coveted 50–40–90 club.
But it’s not like LeBron never had a season worthy of such an honor. In fact, he came very close to owning that record on three different occasions. Talkin about this on the podcast, King James sounded salty about missing the opportunity,
“I would’ve been the first unanimous MVP where I got all 120 votes, but I got 119.” The one vote went to Carmelo Anthony and when LBJ was asked if he knew who that journalist was, he said,
“Yeah, I know. There was one vote and he voted for Carmelo. It was a writer from Boston, of course. I know his name too but I ain’t gonna give him that light just yet.”
LBJ and others on the podcast even questioned the thought that goes behind these votes. The panel agreed that their process doesn’t make sense in cases like the one LeBron is mad about.
The season that he was talking about was his last MVP season in 2013. James came very close to being the unanimous MVP in 2009 with 96.9% votes and again in 2010 with 98% votes. However, losing the record by just one vote still stings and he is not the only person who experienced that.
Shaquille O’Neal slammed the reporter who cost him his MVP record
Shaquille O’Neal is another NBA legend who has to live with the regret of someone else’s mistake. LeBron and Shaq are the only two athletes in the league’s history to have missed the opportunity to be the unanimous MVP by just one vote.
Shaq’s bitter moment came when he joined Phil Jackson and the late, great Kobe Bryant to start the Lakers’ three-peat campaign. Even though he won the MVP title in 2000, Shaq was snubbed from being the unanimous MVP by just one vote.
During a conversation with Graham Bensinger, Shaq said,
“I wish I could say his name cause I would call him an idiot to his face, he messed up history, I would have been the first-ever unanimous decision MVP.”
When Bensinger reminded him that the reporter’s name was Fred Hickman, Shaq called him “an idiot” a few more times. Shaq averaged 29.7 PPG, 13.6 RPG, and 3.0 BPG, and shot 57.4% from the field that season. Even though LBJ and Shaq came so close to making history by being the league’s unanimous MVP, there is no doubt about their achievements and impact on the league.
