MILWAUKEE — On Friday, the NBA announced that Giannis Antetokounmpo had won MVP for the second season in a row. However, according to Yahoo Sports, runner-up LeBron James was not happy with the voting results.
In an interview, James expressed his disappointment in only having received 16 first-place votes, out of 101.
“It pissed me off. That’s my true answer,” said James. “It pissed me off because out of 101 votes, I got 16 first-place votes. That’s what pissed me off more than anything. Not saying the winner wasn’t deserving of the MVP, but that pissed me off.”
James, a four-time MVP winner, came in second place for the fourth time in his career.
“I finish second a lot in my career, either from a championship and now four times as an MVP,” he said.
When Giannis won MVP, he joined an elite group made up of Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to have won an MVP award and Defensive Player of the Year award in the same season.
According to Yahoo Sports, James reminded the media that he was close to joining that group seven years ago. He also made it clear that he was not saying he should have won, he was just acknowledging the disparity in voting.
"I don’t know how much we’re really watching the game of basketball or [watching] the narrative," said James.
