LeBron James’ career has been full of success but a lot of his fans believe the King has been disrespected on more than one occasion during his great 18-year tenure in the association. After having a terrible 2018/19 NBA season, nobody expected LeBron to have a good season last year but he proved everybody wrong and won his 4th NBA title with the Lakers at the Orlando bubble.
Bron was just great before and after the suspension of the league. After the COVID-19 outbreak forced the front office to suspend the activities, more and more debates started around the league, with some claiming James was the rightful MVP winner while others made the case for Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo.
This was a big topic of discussion around the league, even after the bubble was over and Giannis was eliminated in the second round of the postseason with a gentleman sweep by the Miami Heat. More people made the case for LeBron after that moment, but one former NBA champion explained what went down there and why Giannis won the award over the King.
John Salley says Giannis Antetokounmpo won the MVP award over LeBron James because he’s younger
Detroit Pistons legend John Salley recently sat down with Vlad TV to discuss a series of NBA-related topics. The former big man reflected on the last MVP selection and he gave a very interesting response as to why the league decided to award Giannis Antetokounmpo instead of LeBron James.
“I’m a LeBron fan through and through. I think he has been railroaded by the NBA. LeBron should have been the MVP last year. I think Giannis is unbelievable and I understand what they’re saying the most valuable player to the NBA that’s the important thing people need to get.”
“To the NBA, Giannis is more important than LeBron because they feel that they have already surfed this wave, but LeBron investing into himself is important and that’s when he got up there and said I want my damn respect, he’s right. He deserved it. I think the MVP of the league should be at the end. It shouldn’t happen during the finals. Everything, every award should happen at the end… For the NBA, it’s important to have him (Giannis) as the next face. That’s an international face.”
Besides Giannis, you can find more players in the NBA that can become the face of the league in the future. Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson and Jayson Tatum are some of the names that will be fighting to become the face of the league.
LeBron is still ruling the league, though, so it looks like he will be still in these conversations as long as he continues playing at the highest level. The King has made a big impact on the league and that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
