The NBA MVP voting ballot requires the voters to name five players in the category, and this year saw thirteen different players being named. For the first time in his career, LeBron James did not receive a single vote on the MVP ballot. Skip Bayless took notice of this fact and praised LeBron’s legacy, as well as the season he had with the Lakers averaging 29 PPG.
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The 2023 NBA MVP award results were announced Tuesday night, and Joel Embiid was declared the winner. The most prestigious individual award of the season was given to the Philadelphia Sixers center for the first time in his career. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo were the other finalists for the award.
In his twenty seasons, LeBron James has received at least one vote every year throughout his career. However, for the first time, the 100 esteemed panelists of sportswriters and broadcasters from the USA and Canada did not feel fit to give him even a single 5th-place vote.
Skip Bayless praises LeBron James for his performance
Over the years, the co-host of the show ‘Undisputed with Skip and Shannon’ – Skip Bayless, has expressed his harsh criticism of LeBron James in the media. In a surprising segment on the show, Skip Bayless showered praise for the Lakers superstar despite him receiving zero votes in the MVP race. Here is what he said:
“I think it’s a big compliment to LeBron’s leagcy that we are even having this conversation, that this is news he didn’t get a vote in year 20. He is 38 years of alge and he had the greatest 38 year old season we have ever seen because nobody is even approximating this kind of numbers at this age. He did average 29 and just on sheer 29 points a game, you would think it might merit one vote.”
You can listen to the entire conversation below:
For the first time in his career, LeBron did not receive an MVP vote:
“I think it’s a big compliment to his legacy that this is news. The mere fact that he scored 29 points a game is special to me.” — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/HX6YIEGcAe
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 3, 2023
Skip does make a valid point. James has averaged 29 PPG, 8 RPG, and 7 APG for the Los Angeles Lakers this season. It is unbelievable what he can do at this age, and it has never been done in the history of the game. Despite not having the same impact, LeBron is still leading the team to postseason success, recently beating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
What were the reasons that LeBron James didn’t receive a single vote?
There could be multiple reasons the voters decided not to vote for LeBron James this season. To begin with, the Los Angeles Lakers have had a sub-par season finishing at the event place in the Western Conference standings. This resulted in the team having to secure a playoff berth through the Play-In tournament.
Another possible reason could be the number of games played by the Lakers’ power forward. Out of the 82 regular season games, he managed to play only 55 games accounting for 67%. In the games played, despite the high-scoring numbers, his impact was not visible and at times hurt the team. He also had one of the worst 3-point shooting percentages of his career this season.
Though the above possible reasons are enough for a voter to turn his back, if we take into perspective LeBron’s age and longevity, his performance has been beyond impressive.
