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With the Los Angeles Lakers sitting atop the NBA standings with the NBA’s best defense, LeBron James is closing the gap between he and the two MVP finalists from the last two NBA seasons.
In updated odds released Wednesday from BetOnline, James is currently a very close third behind 2019 MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and 2018 MVP James Harden to win the 2020 MVP award. While James is currently leading the NBA in assists, the other two have incredibly impressive statistical accolades while their teams are a bad Lakers week from passing L.A. in the standings.
2019-2020 NBA Regular Season Most Valuable Player
James Harden 7/4
Giannis Antetokounmpo 2/1
LeBron James 6/1
Luka Doncic 7/1
Anthony Davis 12/1
Kawhi Leonard 16/1
Joel Embiid 28/1
Nikola Jokic 28/1
Damian Lillard 33/1
Karl-Anthony Towns 33/1
Paul George 33/1
Pascal Siakam 50/1
Harden is averaging an astonishing 39.4 points per game in the first month of the season and has actually shot below his career shooting percentages. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo is averaging a monstrous 30 points, 14 rebounds and six assists per game.
Right now, LeBron has team success on his side and for the first time since he was with the Miami Heat, a claim at two-way excellence. He hasn’t taken home the MVP award since he took his talents from South Beach, so perhaps the reminders of those days are portending a reclaiming of the Most Valuable Players award that he hasn’t won since 2013.
If James manages to retake the MVP award seven years after his most recent one, that would be the longest stretch between MVP awards in NBA history, surpassing a six-year gap for Wilt Chamberlain (1960-66). A fifth MVP would also make him just the fourth player in NBA history to win five MVPs, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6), Bill Russell and Michael Jordan.