LeBron James reacts to his second place MVP finish: 'It pissed me off'

LeBron James has been absolutely ruling the NBA for the last decade or so now, but only has a couple of MVP trophies to show for it.

NBA fans were extremely upset on Friday when he didn’t win it over Giannis Antetokounmpo, who had just become a back-to-back MVP at just 25 years old.

People couldn’t understand why James, who just led the NBA in assists at 35 years old and was still playing in the playoffs, couldn’t win the award over Giannis who couldn’t get out of the second round of the playoffs. Of course, it’s a regular season award, but still. People were upset.

Count LeBron himself as one of those people. He was asked about coming in second after a 126-114 win over the Denver Nuggets and he had a lot to say. Starting with the fact that he was miffed over receiving just 16 first place votes for MVP.

He let us know five times how it “pissed me off.” He didn’t even mention Giannis’ name.

“It pissed me off.”@KingJames on being voted second in MVP voting. pic.twitter.com/SsE7CExMFd

— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 19, 2020

It pissed me off. That’s my true answer. 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. I finished second a lot in my career. Either from championship, now four times as an MVP. I never came into this league saying let me be MVP or a champion. I’ve always said I just want to get better and better every single day and those things will take care of itself. But some things is just out of my hand and some things you can’t control. It pissed me off. 

He also went on a long rant about how he thinks the voting has shifted. And Marc Gasol, somehow, caught a stray.

James talked about how he missed out on winning Defensive Player of the Year and MVP in 2012 after Marc Gasol won it despite only making second team all-defense.

Lakers’ LeBron James w/ a long riff on awards voting after finishing second for 2020 MVP: “The voting scale is a little weird to me… I don’t know how much really we’re watching the game of basketball or are we just in the narration mode, the narrative.” pic.twitter.com/xJeQ1HLoMD

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 19, 2020

“I don’t know how much we’re watching the game of basketball or are we just in the narration mode. The narrative.” 

And, as a cherry on top, he tweeted about his votes to cement his #PettyKing status.

16 out of 101 ! Ok cool! I got y’all.

— LeBron James (@KingJames) September 19, 2020

Look. LeBron has had some legitimate gripes over the years with award voting.

The point he brings up about 2012 is a valid one. Then, the next year in 2013, he missed out on becoming the NBA’s first unanimous MVP by a single vote because a reporter voted for Carmelo Anthony. You could even go back to 2011 when Derrick Rose won MVP for basically being the new kid on the block.

This is not one of those years. This isn’t one of those times. Giannis Antetokounmpo deserved MVP. He was the best player in the NBA’s regular season this year by far and it wasn’t really that close.

That’s not driven by narrative. That’s not driven by bad voting. That’s just production. Giannis was just rewarded for being that good. It is what it is.

Still, LeBron is mad. And a mad LeBron is never a good thing for the team he’s playing against. Good luck, Denver. You’ll need lots of it the rest of the way.