Lakers coach Frank Vogel endorses LeBron James for NBA MVP, because of course he does

Frank Vogel believes his best player LeBron James should be NBA MVP.

Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is really going to bat for LeBron James here.

James has won NBA MVP four times already, but hasn’t taken home the league’s top individual honor in nearly a decade. The last time James won NBA MVP he was still playing for the Miami Heat back in 2012-13. That was two teams ago for him, but Vogel may be onto something with his best player getting NBA MVP No. 5 for the 2019-20 campaign.

“Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James. I do believe that he should be the MVP this year,” said Vogel to ESPN. “I believe he should be the MVP and I believe Anthony Davis should be the Defensive Player of the Year. I hope those awards go to our two players.”

Per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Vogel believes James’ final two performances before the March 11 lockdown vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks and Kawhi Leonard’s Los Angeles Clippers might be enough to get him the top honor in the league this year.

“In that weekend, LeBron took the toughest assignment in both games. He guarded Kawhi in the Clippers game and did a great job with him there. And then he guarded Giannis in the Bucks game when AD was in foul trouble and did a great job in those two situations,” said Vogel. “I think that weekend was probably a great indicator or a great measuring stick.”

Will LeBron James end up winning his fifth NBA MVP award this season?

What serves James to take home the fifth NBA MVP of his illustrious career is three-fold. One, the league currently lacks a flavor of the year. There’s no Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double or Antetokounmpo asserting himself to superstardom. While there are plenty of deserving candidates, there is no virtual lock for who will take home the top honor this year.

Two, it is a shortened season due to the coronavirus. This award will only be tabulated over all the games up to the March 11 shutdown. Anything that happens in the Orlando bubble stays in the Orlando bubble, as nothing James, Antetokounmpo, Leonard or anybody do in the bubble will impact the MVP vote.

And three, Vogel pointed out against the best competition in the league down the stretch, James flourished. It may have happened months ago, but James’ performance against the Bucks on March 6 vs. Antetokounmpo and then two days later vs. Leonard and the Clippers might give James the last-minute push he needed to be named NBA MVP for the fifth time in his career.

This might be James’ best last shot at winning NBA MVP before he enters his late 30s.