LeBron James at 21 was as effective as Kobe Bryant in 2005-06, but his name shockingly did not come up in MVP talks

LeBron James has been in the MVP talks for about 15 years now – he won’t be leaving it until he retires.

Not many 21-year-olds get thrown into the MVP mix-unless they are Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James. Three names are a staple when it comes to who is the best player of all time and in the past 40 years. So when, in 2005–6, LeBron pulled a rabbit out of a hat with a 31-7-7-2 stat line, it was incredible.

Any other year, and he would have won MVP. Hands down, eyes closed. Yet it got eclipsed because that year’s MVP was one of the toughest runs of the 00s. You had Kobe Bryant with his 35.7 points and the obvious snubs like Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, and Dirk Nowitzki in the mix.

Much has been spoken about Kobe, but has anyone gone back to see what a 21-year-old did? If it was Luka Doncic who pulled that stat line out of nothing, fans would be singing his praises until the end of time. However, it was assumed because that was the expectation set for him.

In one of the most forgotten seasons of any player, Bron’s ’05-06 campaign should take 1st place. Despite averaging a career-high of 31 points, it does not get talked about much. Despite leading his team to a higher finish, Kobe’s achievements are spoken about more. He should be remembered for his efforts just like all the other players on the list.

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LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have been robbed of various accolades – but the fans know who deserved what

2013 Lebron James deserved that DPOY-even a blind grandmother knows that. Who decided to vote for Marc Gasol as DPOY while he was featured on the All-defense second team? That has never happened in the history of the game, yet when it was LeBron, it was possible.

Just to see Bron not win a unanimous MVP, one person did not vote for him in the first place. The same happened with Shaquille O’Neal. But when it came to the media’s darling child, Stephen Curry, everything was hunky dory. The bias is real, and it is there for everyone to see.

The league in the early 2000s wanted to see a shift in the way it was viewed—apart from Larry Bird, they did not have a single high-profile non-African American player in their midst. Enter Steve Nash, a mummy’s boy with that fringe, robbing 2 MVPs from the dynamic duo of the 2000s.

Fans may consider 2005 to be a robbery when it came to Kobe Bryant, and that is 100% true. But they should also see what LeBron did at a much younger age. With not too much disparity in quality in their supporting cast too, mind you.

Also Read: Stephen Curry beat LeBron James by a whopping $700,000 in a battle of insane fanfare