The role of Lebron James in the history of the NBA He is unquestionable, being considered the most complete player of all time and one of the few who can enter the debate about being the best in history.
Despite his remarkable feats in nearly two decades, ESPN conducted his annual survey for the new NBA season and James did not receive any vote as the best player in the league, something that “El Rey” harshly questioned on social networks.
Of course, this raises a very interesting question: Did LeBron deserve this label for the 2021-22 season?
LeBron James receives zero votes from scouts and executives in poll for best player in NBA: https://t.co/13Cccb1zLt
– NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) August 19, 2021
The voters in this poll are no strangers to the league, on the contrary, they are executives from various organizations and the top recruiters in the United States. Of course, this does not imply that they are right, but the unanimity is an indicator that the perception towards James is changing.
The previous season LeBron averaged 25 points, 7.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game, being a pretty good and usual line for the player of the Lakers. The questions start when it is noted that he only played 62% of the matches in the regular round.
We finish off our 2020-21 #LakeShow recaps with LeBron James. ? At the age of 36 in his 18th season, he finished above his career average in assists and rebounds but was limited by the injury bug appearing in 45 of 72 regular season games. pic.twitter.com/LGD9UViRE0
– Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) August 4, 2021
It is normal for an NBA player to miss part of the season due to physical problems, but incredible as it may seem, this had never happened to James throughout his entire career. During 18 seasons he had never missed more than 25% of his organization’s matches.
Against this background it is not surprising that the experts of the league remove LeBron from their great MVP candidates, in contrast to players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant or even Luka Doncic, who live extraordinary moments.
Some NBA executives and scouts no longer think LeBron is the best in the world …@robinlundberg on why the king is nowhere near washed pic.twitter.com/OZCcPYKG3l
– Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 20, 2021
It is logical that James would be upset given his level of competitiveness, but for better or for worse, his era is drawing to a close and the player himself will have to acknowledge it at some point.