LA "It's never motivated me," James said in a recent interview "Regular-season MVP has never motivated me. To be the best -- to be the best to ever play the game has motivated me and has resulted in me being able to be league MVP a couple times.
"But I've never gone into the season saying, 'OK, league MVP is what I want to be.' I've gone into the season saying, 'OK, I want to be the MVP of this team; I want to be the best player in the world,' and how I approach my game every day, how I take care of my body every day has resulted in that award."
James four MVP awards can only be rivalled by NBA greats Micheal Jordan, Bill Russell (five) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six).
If James were to walk away with the MVP this season, he would be the oldest league MVP in the history of the game. He is averaging 25.4 points, a 10.7 assists (league highest) and 7.8 rebounds per game in his 17th season.
"The body of work he's put forth for our team I don't really think it compares to anybody else," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "A lot of great performances throughout the year with other players, so I don't want to take anything away from anyone else, but it's pretty unbelievable what he does. What he means to us on both sides of the ball, defensive IQ and the way he impacts the game with his strength, athleticism, scoring the way he does, but also leading the league in assists. And the most important stat is how much we're winning.
"So, to me, it's his."If James were to walk away with the MVP this season, he would be the oldest league MVP in the history of the game. He is averaging 25.4 points, a 10.7 assists (league highest) and 7.8 rebounds per game in his 17th season.
"The body of work he's put forth for our team I don't really think it compares to anybody else," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "A lot of great performances throughout the year with other players, so I don't want to take anything away from anyone else, but it's pretty unbelievable what he does. What he means to us on both sides of the ball, defensive IQ and the way he impacts the game with his strength, athleticism, scoring the way he does, but also leading the league in assists. And the most important stat is how much we're winning.
"So, to me, it's his."
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo's season is more than impressive by every standard. He is averaging a career-best 29.6 points , a career-best 13.8 rebounds (fourth in the league) and 5.8 assists. Not to mention he is also the current MVP.
Antetokounmpo also has a strong claim to the award and should he win the award again, he would be the first back-to-back winner since Golden State's Stephen Curry (14/15 to 15/16).
When James was asked to describe how he knows he's on track to achieve his ambition of becoming the greatest ever player in the game, he said
"I think it's the games that I play, leadership, how my teammates feed off my presence and feed off my word. It's so much more than, for me, being the best player in the world than just going out and doing it on the floor," James said. "I think leadership has a lot to do with it. Having a command. Holding yourself accountable. Allowing others to hold you accountable as well. So I have a lot of tiers to trying to be the best player in the world. It's not just about the basketball side."
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