For the last decade-plus, the NBA MVP award is almost congruent with LeBron James’ name and according to Las Vegas, just because his jersey has changed it doesn’t mean his familiarity with MVP talk will.
Bovada has James on top of their odds to win the 2019 NBA MVP with 10-3 odds. He is followed by Anthony Davis (4-1), Giannis Antetokounmpo (9-2), last year’s winner, James Harden (11-2), with Kevin Durant (9-1) rounding out the top five.
The 32-year old having the highest odds really should come as no shock to anyone for a few reasons. First and foremost, James is the best player in the world. Secondly, the Lakers are surrounding him with young talent which will likely give him a better case in the eyes of the voters if the Lakers end up being a top seed in the Western Conference.
Last year, James finished second in MVP voting while posting a ridiculous stat line of 27.5 points, 9.1 assists, 8.6 rebounds while playing all 82 games. However, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a rather underwhelming regular season and James Harden led the Rockets to the best record in the league. Clearly, team success and expectations are a huge part of what the voters look for so another statistical season like his last and the Lakers exceeding tepid expectations for them in a tough Western Conference could land James his fifth MVP award.
