Why LeBron James Will Be The 2019 MVP!

LeBron James— two words that’ll get you to stop everything you’re doing or get your eyes rolling. However, you feel about LeBron he is in position to make history once again. LeBron, as everyone knows is now a Laker. This will be the third franchise he plays for, and the first in the Western Conference (touch on that later).

Last season we were all witnesses to a Year 15 LeBron who was doing things that no other player has done at his age or point of his career. Crazy to realize that he gets better over time. It’s like Tom Cruise doing his 6th Mission Impossible (the best one yet!) at age 56 doing his own stunts which include Halo Jumping, helicopter dog-fights, and much more. A movie franchise started over 20 years ago just keeps getting better, much like LeBron James.

After 2013, we NBA fans were assuming James couldn’t get better than that. He shot 56% from the field (career high until doing better the next season), 40.6% from three (career high), averaging 8 RPG, 7.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, and 26.8 PPG. In year 15 LeBron put up career highs in games played (82), RPG (8.6), and APG (9.1). Not to mention what was probably the best post-season run of his career. In addition, he also led the league in minutes played per game in back to back seasons at ages 32 and 33 respectively.

So how does this have anything to do with him winning MVP in 2019? He hasn’t won it since 2013 and he’ll be turning 34 in December, you really think he has a chance? Yes, I do. We keep expecting him to decline, but what we’ve seen is him simply get better. Credit to the ex U.S. Navy Seal who helped James with his back, because I think that we would’ve seen a less productive LeBron with back issues (https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2765419-lebron-james-talks-with-espn-about-training-with-ex-navy-seal-to-fix-back-injury).

Now as LeBron has gotten better with age like “Fine Wine” as he said himself, the one area that seems to be slipping away is him playing great defense. If he could get his defensive rating of 111 from last season down to at least 104 (Reigning MVP Harden’s defensive rating for 2018) then ideally, we can’t make a case against him for bad defense.

So, here’s why LeBron will win MVP this upcoming season:

1. TAKING THE CROWN...

As mentioned earlier LeBron James for the first time will be playing in the Western Conference. Not just for any team either. We’re talking about the prestigious Los Angeles Lakers who have 16 Championships. Good for second behind the Celtics (my favorite team) who have 17. Is the west that heavy this year?

The Lakers this year are projected to win 48 to 50 wins (https://www.actionnetwork.com/nba/nba-win-totals-betting-odds-2018-2019-warriors-celtics). According to the projections, this would place the Lakers at third in the Western Conference. So, "seeding" wise, LeBron should be in a position that’ll clearly gain him all the credit for reviving the Lakers. If Golden State is the 1st seed, is KD or Steph winning MVP? No, I don’t think so—they’ll cancel each other out (assuming both are healthy). Could Harden repeat? Possibly, but he would have to outdo himself considering the team hasn’t gotten better from last season. Anthony Davis? No, Davis may have one of his best seasons as we saw him reach a new level with his ridiculous February last season. However, can we trust the Pelicans to get better than the 6th seed? Maybe Westbrook? No, he wouldn’t have the story to back him up this time. He averaged another triple-double again and didn’t win, and OKC won’t finish top 4.

What about the Eastern Conference? We have Giannis, Kawhi, and Kyrie. Kawhi is coming off a season in which he only played 9 games. That’s all we know. At the moment, can we really say Kawhi will be healthy, good, etc? Then there’s Kyrie (Go Celtics!) I love Kyrie Irving, but I don’t see him winning MVP. He’s an elite talent, but he doesn’t have that dominant superstar “shift” a franchise quality about him. The way he could’ve won was last season with Gordon Hayward out. If Kyrie had played every game and on his own led the Celtics to 60 wins with averages of 30, 5, and 7 I think he would have had a strong case. This year Gordon will be back and unless Kyrie separates himself from the pack, I don’t see it. For Giannis, all I’m gonna say is that I don’t think his team is good enough for him to lead to a 3rd or 4th seed. Yes, with LeBron out of the East there are more opportunities for these younger teams to excel. We shall see!

2. HOLLYWOOD STORY…

“Lights, camera, action!” The story that the media will be watching is if LeBron who went to a team full of young talent can lead them to a playoff berth for the first time in 5 seasons. While la la land is known for its glitz and glory, the Lakers, unfortunately, haven’t made the playoffs in 5 seasons (Dwight and Nash were on that team). The Lakers have drafted D'Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram. 2 of those 3 have failed and are now on different teams. Ingram slowly but surely has shown consistent improvement but isn’t quite where he should be. The Lakers since, have drafted Lonzo Ball (Lavar Ball comes with the package), and Kyle “Kuuuuzzma.” No one is expecting this team to win let alone go to the Finals (have you seen who they’ve signed?). However, some NBA fans don’t believe that they’ll even make the playoffs. Lakers won 35 games last season good for 11th in the West. Remember projections have LeBron adding 15 wins to the Lakers that should take them to the 3rd seed. PORTLAND had the 3rd seed last season! The last player to win MVP as a third seed was Jordan in 1988. Karl Malone won in 1999 as a 3rd seed, but he was tied for the best record at the 3rd seed. Moses Malone won it as a 6th seed over 30 years ago averaging 31 and 15. Of course, more recently Westbrook won the MVP as a 6th seed, but he averaged a triple-double for the season and recording a record 42 for the season which broke Oscar Robertson’s record of 41 that stood for over 50 years! If the Lakers can end up in the 3rd seed I think he would deserve it, don’t you? Who could take this roster to 50 wins and to the 3rd seed? The media would love to make a case for LeBron winning MVP like they did for Russell Westbrook (I don’t think he should have won. I feel the story of KD leaving and averaging a triple-double moved the media, which makes my point of the voters loving a great story). Not wanting to bring politics into this but is it hard to imagine the media won’t also consider the off-court “LeBron vs Trump” and let it sway their voting pens towards LeBron?

3. “VINO”…

As I’ve mentioned throughout this post, LeBron James is not declining anytime soon period. He’s simply getting better, smarter, and healthier. Playing alongside Lonzo should keep the ball out of his hands more which could lead to a decrease in turnovers. This should be the case if LeBron plays off-ball and lets Lonzo be the primary ball-handler (LeBron averaged over 4 TO per game). His scoring should come easier too if he continues to post up more and hone his newfound fadeaway shot. Being in the paint more should also translate to more rebounds, assist opportunities out of the post on a double team, and even making opposing teams use bigger or smaller lineups that would only create mismatches for said opposing teams. Lebron is the best player in the league and every step he takes is premeditated. Don’t believe LeBron is going to let his 13 straight playoff appearances get snapped this season. Playing with more younger players should help extend his prime one would assume.

I believe that the story, city, time in his career, his bionic skeleton, and no new MVP threats are the strongest factors for LeBron winning MVP. If he does it would be his 5th MVP joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, and Michael Jordan as the only to win 5 MVP’s (Kareem has 6). LeBron would also be the first player in NBA history to win an MVP award with three different teams! King James is set to rule this upcoming season and everyone else is in his court.

(Featured Image via NBA.com)