National Basketball Association

LeBron James reacts after poll on NBA's best player gives him little love

Updated Aug. 20, 2021 12:39 p.m. ET

It would be reasonable to think that after amassing countless accolades through 18 years in the NBA, LeBron James might be content to rest on his laurels.

But with his place atop the NBA's hierarchy apparently in jeopardy, he just might have a new source of motivation heading into his 19th season in the league.

In a recent poll of NBA executives conducted by Tim Bontemps of ESPN, one of the questions focused on picking the NBA's best player. James did not receive a single vote, with Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo splitting the votes.

James did receive mentions, but according to Bontemps, he didn't garner enough love to be named the best among the 10 NBA executives.

"The only other name even mentioned by those polled was James, though he ultimately didn't receive any votes. It was clear all three stars were on a level unto themselves at this point," Bontemps wrote.

The news clearly made it onto James' radar, with the Lakers' superstar sending out a couple of tweets reacting to the news.

The past calendar year has been a mixed bag for James, but given his history, it is easy to understand why he might be miffed about the omission.

It was less than a year ago that he led the Lakers to an NBA championship in the Orlando bubble, capturing his fourth championship and fourth Finals MVP award in the process.

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He was also one of the leading candidates for league MVP this past season before he suffered a high ankle sprain that kept him out of a career-high 27 games.

That combination of factors is why Shannon Sharpe was surprised James didn't receive a single vote, as he detailed on "Undisputed."

"Last year this time, LeBron had just come off a Finals where he averaged 30 [PPG], 12 [RPG], nine [APG], 59% field-goal shooting, 41% from 3-point range," he said. "And what do I tell you about sports? It's all about updating your résumé, and he was in the process of updating that résumé."

The 27-game absence prevented James from getting that update and resulted in his return at less than full strength before the playoffs, during which he averaged just 23.3 points per game in a first-round loss to the Phoenix Suns.

As Skip Bayless pointed out on "Undisputed," James statistically took a step back in multiple categories, including scoring and assists, which could have been a factor in his lack of votes from executives.

"His assists fell from 10.2 the year before, when he led the league in assists, all the way down to 7.8," he said. "That's a plummet."

Meanwhile, Durant and Antetokounmpo thrived in the most recent postseason.

Durant fell to Antetokounmpo's Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals — but not before delivering two 40-plus-point performances in the last three games of the series.

Antetokounmpo, on the other hand, bested Durant before winning his first NBA championship in epic fashion, with a 50-point closeout game against Phoenix to secure the title.

While James isn't far removed from his own glory, Durant and Antetokounmpo have been more dominant of late. Whether they both are truly above James won't be settled until the 2021 season begins.

It just makes the upcoming NBA season all the more intriguing.

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