Over his 23 seasons, LeBron James has earned numerous accolades, including four championships and four NBA Most Valuable Player awards.
Those MVP awards spanned 2009 to 2013, and he hasn’t won the award since. His Los Angeles Lakers teammate, Luka Doncic, has often been a top contender, including this season’s race for the award.
Ahead of this month's All-Star break, NBA.com's Shaun Powell indicated that Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the frontrunner to claim the award, with Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic on his heels. Lakers star Luka Doncic was third overall in the race.
That said, there’s another contender amongst the candidates whom LeBron recently pointed out as his sleeper pick for the award.
While talking to reporters, King James said that the Boston Celtics‘ Jaylen Brown deserves much more credit for what he’s doing for his team this season.
"This whole MVP thing, I don't understand why his name is not getting talked about some as well," James said, per Dave McMenamin, adding, "Like, nobody gave them a shot to start the season. And he's averaging what, 30? Just under 30? It's a popularity contest sometimes, I tell you."
Brown ranked sixth on that previously mentioned NBA.com report, as he was behind the San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama and Detroit Pistons' Cade Cunningham.
Brown has been the driving force for this season’s Celtics, who lost Jayson Tatum for a significant part of the season after his brutal injury in last season’s playoffs. Along with Tatum’s absence, they no longer have key players from last season’s roster, such as Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Jrue Holiday.
LeBron got another close-up look at how well Brown is playing on Sunday night. The All-Star guard scored 32 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out seven assists in Boston's win over the Lakers in Los Angeles.
“The whole championship team pretty much is kind of revamped, and he used it as motivation to keep them afloat. They're playing great basketball, and it's because of him and the rest of those guys. He's taken that next step,” LeBron said regarding why Brown needs to be a stronger contender for MVP.
While Brown only leads his team in scoring with 29.2 points per game, he's also averaging seven rebounds, nearly five assists, and a steal per game.
Boston has also posted a 37-19 record and is first in the Atlantic Division. That's something many thought might be impossible after losing Tatum to injury and making offseason moves to change up their roster.
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