Shaquille O’Neal and Draymond Green disagree with Giannis winning MVP; say that LeBron James deserved it more.
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The NBA announced last night that the 2019-20 NBA regular season MVP was Giannis Antetokounmpo. This would be Giannis’s 2nd straight MVP. Giannis snagged the Defensive Player of the Year award for this season as well.
However, upon the release of this news, many NBA fans and now analysts, have come forth with their thoughts on the matter, saying LeBron James should’ve won the MVP for this year, including LeBron himself.
Shaq and Draymond Green both belive LeBron James should have won the MVP this year.
In another edition of Inside the NBA, Shaq and Draymond both give us their takes on who deserved to win the MVP, both agreed that LeBron James deserved it more.
Shaq explained his reasoning by adamantly reiterating, “LeBron is the best player in the world. If you’re the best player in the world, you should always get the MVP.”
Shaq also slyly added the fact that he got snubbed from 2 MVPs because the NBA values team records too much when deciding the MVP.
Draymond Green built on what Shaq stated, saying, “If you’re starting a franchise, or picking a player to go win a championship, you’re picking LeBron James.”
If you don’t want to hear it from me, listen to Draymond…
Having the best regular season is a big huge deal – but it doesn’t mean you’re the NBA’s best player. The NBA needs to modernize its awards (like all the other leagues already have) to recognize both, separately. pic.twitter.com/qIcgDbXkPx— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) September 19, 2020
Kenny Smith added that narrative plays a part in MVP voting too.
Should LeBron James have won the MVP?
The NBA MVP is a regular season award. It combines a player’s individual talent and accomplishments, his value to his team, and the team’s overall success with that player on the team.
Giannis led the Milwaukee Bucks to the best record in the league, while averaging nearly 30 and 14. This was no doubt a historic season for Giannis Antekounmpo but when it comes to team value, there is no debating that without LeBron, the Lakers might’ve not even made the Playoffs.
Like Draymond said, “Giannis had a better regular season that LeBron James, however that can also be argued.”
