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King said: LeBron James is the MVP of the first quarter of the NBA season
With personal records off the arc and an almost morbid desire to correct the injustice done to him in years past, an entire league agrees: no one deserves the MVP title more than the Lakers star who fights for his legacy.
The betting agencies have also straightened out, who are the candidates who will try to prevent him from earning a fifth degree in his career?
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LeBron James
Nikola Jukic
Joel Ambide
NBA
Kwai Leonard
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Tuesday, 02 February 2021, 20:00
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Above all?
LeBron (Photo: GettyImages, Harry How)
About a quarter of a season has passed, and the United States has been busy in recent days trying to determine who is the MVP of the 2020/21 season in the NBA.
According to the betting agencies, the clear favorite has become Baron James.
On the eve of the season opener, the Los Angeles Lakers star was ranked only sixth, ahead of him (in order) Luca Doncic, Yannis Antokompo, Kevin Durant, Stephen Kerry and Joel Ambide, assuming he uses the regular season to rest and save for the playoffs.
Well, LeBron is not retaining any strength, at least not right now: Even at 36, James is at his peak with averages of 25 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game, in a team with one of the best balance sheets in the league.
Equally impressive is the way LeBron does what he does: with 40.9 percent off the arc - a personal record for a player who has scored over 40 percent for three in just one season in his career so far (2012/13), and holds a career average of 34.6 percent.
King James throws 6.8 times per game off the arc - more than Kevin Durant, Trey Young, Devin Booker, Jamal Marie, Gordon Hayward and others - and scores 2.8 times per game, more than Chris Middleton, Eric Gordon, Davis Batters, Bradley Bill, Young, Hayward, Booker, Marie, Brandon Ingram, Tobias Harris, Luka Doncic, Kwai Leonard and others.
"He leads by a large margin in the race for the MVP," ESPN commentator Bobby Marks said this week.
"The only question was whether he could keep that pace, after he only had two months to rest at the end of last season."
Royce Young, also from ESPN, agrees with the accepted assumption of most commentators in the United States: If James does his best to win a fifth career MVP (and first since 2013), he will have no competitors: "It's a question of how much he wants "Because if he really wants it, it's his. While LeBron doesn't have to win the MVP title every season to be considered the best player, at the moment it looks like he will succeed in both of those aspects."
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James, everyone agrees, is also playing on his legacy: he is currently ranked third all-time, along with Wilt Chamberlain.
If he wins a fifth MVP title in his career, he will be equal to Bill Russell and Michael Jordan who share second place.
First is Karim Abdul Jabbar, with six wins.
"Let's not think about it too much," said Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated.
"Except for a few stutters, the Lakers have dominated this quarter this season and are the clear favorites to win again. Not for the first time, James is the main reason for that. Remember we were all scared of the post-championship hangover? How will all this effort affect a 36-year-old star in his 18th season? "In the league? No, LeBron doesn't remember either. If everyone continues at this pace, he will become the oldest MVP in the league's history."
Until this season, no 36-year-old player has won the title - Jordan and Carl Malone did so when they were 35.
Chris Manix, Jeremy Woo and Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated also selected LeBron as the quarter-final MVP - among others Due to the injustice done to him, they claim, in past years - James has not won since 2013, as mentioned, and finished second in 2014 (to Kevin Durant), in 2018 (to James Harden) and last season (to Yannis Antocompo).
"We all remember his playoff appearances last season, and that may give him a small advantage over other players (Jukic, Ambide) who might put up better numbers," Manix stated.
Wu added: "For me there is no question here. LeBron has not yet missed a game this season and still looks like the best player in the league, at 36."
Lundberg concluded: "I can see how the voters will go with him, given that he has had to win more than four times so far."
"He's the most special there is," Boston coach Brad Stevens complimented last week.
"He would have won the MVP many more times if people had not been bored and looking to talk about other things."
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The other three candidates alongside LeBron
Joel Ambide
with personal
bests
of 28.3 points on 54.4 percent from the field, including 40.4 percent off the arc and 11.1 rebounds per game, the Philadelphia East Leading Center is the choice of Dan Debain of The Ringer and Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated.
The Kwai Leonard
Clippers currently hold the best balance in the league - 16 wins alongside five losses, and this has happened mainly thanks to their star duo, led by Leonard.
The wonderful forward has once again looked like one of the best players in the world with 25.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game, while showing tremendous efficiency: 50.8 percent from the field, 41 percent off the arc and 91.8 percent from the line.
Denver star
Nikola Jokic
puts up an unprecedented 26.8 points, 57.4 percent from the field and 38.4 percent for 3, alongside 11.8 rebounds, 8.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game - all career highs.
But unlike the other candidates, his team's balance is a little less good (8:12), and it is usually customary to award to a player who comes from one of the best teams in the league.
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The latest candidates for the MVP title according to the betting agencies
1. LeBron James
2. Nicola
Jukic 3. Joel Ambide
4. Kevin Durant
5. Luca Doncic
6. Stephen Kerry
7. Yannis Antocompo
8. Damian Lillard
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