Los Angeles Lakers: Why the NBA MVP is LeBron James’s for the taking

The Los Angeles Lakers keep on winning

Winning is often what ends up mattering most when it comes to regular season awards. Last season, for example, Bradley Beal scored 30.5 points per game and got snubbed from every All-NBA and All-Star consideration. His Washington Wizards didn’t win, he didn’t defend his position, and voters weren’t impressed in the least.

You have to win to get consideration, and with few exceptions in league history, only big winners get a shot at the NBA’s MVP award. This season LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are going to qualify as big winners.

So far the Lakers are 14-4 with the best record in the NBA even though it barely seems like they’ve collectively broken a sweat to get those wins. They have another gear (or three) that they can keep in reserve for the biggest games and the playoffs, and James gives them that extra something when they need it.

In addition, this season the Lakers are perfectly set up for a LeBron James MVP run. Last year was largely about getting Anthony Davis acclimated and comfortable, winning a championship and ensuring that he would re-sign for the long-term with the Lakers. This season, all the pieces are in place. Davis signed an extension, the squad seems to be happy and clicking, and now it’s time for LeBron James to get his.

In 2019-20, Davis had a usage rate of 28.4 percent while James checked in at 30.8. In 2020-21, James is deferring a tad less and his usage has ticked up to 31.6 percent while Davis is down to 25.9. Anthony Davis has taken some time to get into form this season, but again after the quick turnaround, you can’t fault him or anybody on this team for needing some extra time.

However, the player we thought might need the most time to get back in gear is LeBron James, and we had that wrong. This season the NBA MVP award belongs to him if he wants it.