National Basketball Association

What does LeBron James not getting an MVP vote mean?

Published May. 3, 2023 6:29 p.m. ET

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers went from being the 13th seed in the Western Conference in February to beating the defending NBA-champion Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of Round 2 of the Western Conference playoffs.

Despite James' and the Lakers' late push to get into the playoffs, the forward didn't receive a single vote for NBA MVP, which Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid claimed. It's the first time in James' 20-year NBA career that he didn't receive an MVP vote.

[Joel Embiid named NBA MVP, putting a bow on his remarkable journey]

On Wednesday's edition of "Undisputed," Shannon Sharpe argued that if James hadn't missed 27 games, he would've received more MVP consideration.

"The mere fact that the guy's still playing at an elite level to say, ‘Well, he’s not at an MVP level in Year 20,' the numbers say otherwise, I just think if he'd play 65 games there's no question in my mind he gets an MVP vote," Sharpe said. "But I don't have a problem with it, and no he didn't deserve an MVP vote."

James was limited to 55 games in the regular season due to various injuries. Across the 55 games that he appeared in, James averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game while shooting 50.0/32.1/76.8.

Los Angeles revamped its rotation before the NBA trade deadline, acquiring Rui Hachimura, D'Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba. After these moves, the Lakers ultimately claimed the No. 7 seed in the West.

After getting past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA play-in tournament, the Lakers took down the Memphis Grizzlies in six games in Round 1. In that series, James averaged 22.2 points, 11.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game while shooting 48.6/19.5/67.7.

In the Lakers' Game 1 win over the Warriors on Tuesday night, James totaled 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Skip Bayless opined that James failing to garner an MVP vote for the first time at 38 speaks to how successful his career has been.

"I think it's actually a big compliment to LeBron's legacy that we're even having this conversation, that this is news that he didn't get an MVP vote in Year 20," Bayless said. "Well, yeah, he's 38 years of age, and yet he had the greatest 38-year-old season we've ever seen because nobody's even approximated these kind of numbers at this age. He did average 29 [points per game], and just on sheer 29 points a game, you'd think that might merit one vote."

Across his 20-year NBA career, James has racked up 19 All-Star Game nods, four NBA MVPs, four NBA championships and four NBA Finals MVPs.

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