LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been embroiled in a pretty tight race for the MVP trophy this season. Both of their teams are at the top of their respective conferences and many are anticipating an NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. There is an argument to be made for both of these players when it comes to MVP honors although not everyone thinks the race is that tight.
As you would expect, former NBA star and current analyst, Paul Pierce, believes Giannis is the clear-cut winner here. As Pierce explained on ESPN, you can't award LeBron the trophy just because he beat Giannis in a regular-season game. For now, Pierce thinks Giannis has simply been the better player this season.
“You don’t base MVP off of one game like it’s the All-Star game,” Pierce said. “LeBron won the battle (against Giannis), but the war is already won by Giannis. (…) He’s putting historic numbers for a guy his size, he has the best team, a record-wise and the numbers speak for themselves. He’s been dominating all year long, so I take him for MVP and I’ll take LeBron second.”
Pierce's opinion shouldn't be a shock to anyone especially since he always seems to be hating on LeBron. Even if he's right with what he's saying, there is always a bit of bias behind it and you have to be cognizant of that.
Let us know who you think should win MVP, in the comments below.