LeBron James would be happy to be included in MVP race

Ryan Ward: LeBron James says he’ll be happy if his name is in the “MVP conversation” because it will mean the Lakers are winning games.
Source: Twitter @RyanWardLA

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Wizards broadcaster apologizes for Kevin Porter comment after LeBron James complains nba.nbcsports.com/2022/01/06/wiz… – 5:30 PM Alykhan Bijani @Rockets_Insider
LeBron James spoke more than 7 minutes about KPJ’s game-winning shot and the Wizards announcer controversy.
“I can’t let that ride on behalf of a kid that looks up to me. Kevin Porter Jr. looks up to me, and it’s my obligation to make sure that he knows that I have his back.” – 5:08 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
LeBron explaining his tweet criticizing the Wizards announcer for comments about Kevin Porter Jr and his dad (only 1:30+ mins worth from his presser, he spoke for much longer on the subject): pic.twitter.com/o0J7lBmEOF – 4:55 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
Dwight Howard on adjusting to LeBron James starting at center: “You got to stay strong mentally because things can change night in and night out.” – 4:42 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
LeBron says he’s “not calling for his job” in regards to the Wizards announcer’s about Kevin Porter Jr. – 4:35 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
LeBron says he’s not calling for Glenn Consor to lose his job, but he isn’t OK with letting that mistake go: I never met the guy. I don’t know him. I pray for him, like I said in my tweet. But I can’t let that comment ride about a guy (Kevin Porter Jr.) who looks up to me. – 4:34 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
LeBron James says he’ll be happy if his name is in the “MVP conversation” because it will mean the Lakers are winning games. – 4:33 PM Kamenetzky Brothers @KamBrothers
Live look at @Harrison Faigen transcribing LeBron’s answer about Kevin Porter Jr… BK pic.twitter.com/fARFwwYIyJ – 4:32 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
LeBron on Wizards announcer/Kevin Porter Jr. controversy and his tweet on the topic: “I’m not taking back nothing I said. Nothing at all.”
(I’ll tweet LeBron’s video response shortly) He had a lot to say on the subject. – 4:31 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Among many points LeBron is making about this issue, he relates an anecdote when Isaiah Thomas was coming out of Washington, and he wondered if he was related to Isiah Thomas — and resolved the issue by Googling to find out. – 4:28 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
LeBron on the KPJ announcer controversy: “I stand by my tweet and I stand by everything I said.”
He notes like players get scouting reports, media members gets notes. “I believe they do their due diligence as well.”
LeBron heard the call live, waited until this AM to comment. – 4:25 PM Ryan Wolstat @WolstatSun
Pretty good big men. Last 5 games:
Jokic: 25 PPG, 17.8 RPG, 6 APG, 1.6 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 51% FG.
Siakam: 24.8, 11.2, 6.6, 1.6 0.8, 52%.
Sabonis: 23.6, 13, 6.8, 0.6, 0.8, 59%.
Giannis (4 gms): 31.8, 11, 7, 1.3, 0.8, 57.5%.
LeBron: 33.8, 9.8, 6.4, 1.6, 1.6, 53.2%. – 3:50 PM Bob Garcia @bgarciaivsports
LeBron James signaled that his #NBA future is linked to his son Bronny James’ basketball path ahead.
#Lakers #LakeShow
sportscasting.com/lebron-james-s… – 3:49 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Frank Vogel acknowledged the Lakers are keeping practices “light” on 37-year-old LeBron James who is playing about 37 minutes per game, saying “it’s a fine line” to figure out the right balance for his workload in practice. – 3:49 PM StatMuse @statmuse
Andrew Wiggins is 4th in All-Star voting in the West frontcourt.
Only LeBron, Jokic and PG are ahead of him. pic.twitter.com/cfxzYMpR6V – 1:15 PM Ben Golliver @BenGolliver
Top five in first round of 2022 NBA All-Star fan voting
1. Warriors’ Stephen Curry
2. Nets’ Kevin Durant
3. Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo
4. Lakers’ LeBron James
5. Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic pic.twitter.com/kURl4rp8OU – 1:05 PM Brian Mahoney @briancmahoney
Stephen Curry with a pretty healthy lead over LeBron for the top vote-getter in the West after the first All-Star returns. Kevin Durant tops the East with Giannis not far behind. – 1:05 PM Kyle Goon @kylegoon
One aspect that maybe only I care about: Since the game adopted the pick-your-own-team format, LeBron James has always led his conference in AS votes and always been a captain. Steph leads at the first check-in — wonder if that holds up this year! pic.twitter.com/xvhhFBHKYc – 1:05 PM Fred Katz @FredKatz
First returns of All-Star fan voting are in.
Fan starters as of now…
West: Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Nikola Jokic, Paul George
East: James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid
Derrick Rose makes a cameo. 7th in guard voting. pic.twitter.com/u0dkH6ycJq – 1:04 PM Michael Singer @msinger
Nikola Jokic is second behind LeBron James in the first fan returns for West frontcourt. Healthy lead on PG at No. 3 as well. pic.twitter.com/ckwc43oqrU – 1:02 PM Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
LeBron James leads the way in the Western Conference frontcourt in All-Star voting. Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony are also in the mix as well as Russell Westrbook in the West backcourt. pic.twitter.com/PaehVUl7Oy – 1:02 PM Brad Townsend @townbrad
Greatness pays homage to Greatness. @LeBron James/@Dirk Nowitzki. pic.twitter.com/zGiNosQt7l – 12:34 PM Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
📅 On this day in 2007, the @Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James scored 19 points in a 96-91 win over the Nets.
It started an active streak of 1,067 straight regular season games in which James scored in double figures, the longest such streak in NBA history by 201 games. pic.twitter.com/dyFEsB01vQ – 11:01 AM Krishna Narsu @knarsu3
Boogie’s LEBRON this year: +1.51. EPM: +0.1. Weird decision to cut him. – 11:58 PM Adam Mares @Adam_Mares
This ESPN broadcast for Jazz-Nuggets hit the first-half trifecta:
Pronounced the MVP’s name as “Djokovic”
Told TWO stories about how Jokic used to be fat as a kid
Asked if LeBron was ROBBED of player of the month (Donovan Mitchell won) – 11:13 PM Matthew Tynan @Matthew_Tynan
Always good to see LeBron stopper JJ Barea – 11:04 PM Rob Perez @WorldWideWob
BALLSY move by the Mavs to schedule Dirk’s jersey retirement ceremony not only the night of the Warriors game but wait until AFTER the final buzzer to do it. we all remember what LeBron did to Paul Pierce that one night in Boston, had that place sounding like the DMV. – 10:32 PM Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Lakers’ winning streak, LeBron James’ dominance & Russell Westbrook’s trade value. Talking those topics & more with @geeter3 & @Mike Bresnahan on @SpectrumSN. Tune in at 7 pm! – 9:26 PM Micah Adams @MicahAdams13
20-point quarters this season
LeBron: 0
Durant: 0
Giannis: 0
Jokic: 0
Luka: 0
Embiid: 0
Harden: 0
Booker: 0
Trae: 0
Tatum: 0
Dame: 0
LANCE STEPHENSON: 1 – 8:38 PM Matt Steinmetz @SteinmetzNBA
Doncic, Harden, Westbrook, T.Young, LeBron James (2015 Finals), Lillard all great players. But over years, Warriors’ defense has done great against teams with ball-dominant players. – 8:09 PM Kevin O’Connor @KevinOConnorNBA
New podcast with @J. Kyle Mann on the implications of LeBron at the 5, Monk, Fox-Haliburton fit, the state of the OKC Thunder, Franz Wagner, our Jabari Smith Jr. evaluation, and much more involving some of the NBA’s oldest and youngest teams. I absolutely loved having this convo. – 7:41 PM Justin Kubatko @jkubatko
Dirk Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to record at least 10,000 rebounds and 1,000 3PM.
He’s one of only four players in NBA history to record at least 1,000 3PM, 1,000 steals, and 1,000 blocks. The others are LeBron James, Clifford Robinson, and Rasheed Wallace. pic.twitter.com/pGodz0EtRR – 6:31 PM James Plowright @British_Buzz
The LeBron James love affair with Malik Monk and it becoming a story today was not on my NBA season bingo card, just all round weird.
I’m a little torn and think both sides can claim to be happy with how it ended up. – 6:00 PM

More on this storyline

Stephen Curry enters 2022 as the leading contender for the MVP award with Kevin Durant in striking distance and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic also lurking. To determine the top contenders for the MVP award, HoopsHype anonymously polled 20 media members who voted on last year’s official NBA awards for their current top five MVP rankings. -via HoopsHype / January 6, 2022 Mark Haynes: Draymond Green on Quin Snyder including him in MVP talk: “I agree with him, and I think that’s someone who sees the game for what it is…I don’t think it could have been explained any better… The things I do to impact winning, I think there’s something to be said for that.” -via Twitter @markhaynesnba / January 3, 2022 Mark Haynes: Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder on Draymond Green: “I think If you want to put someone in the MVP conversation, he’s someone to me… Maybe the numbers don’t match up to some of the numbers that some other guys put up…He just does it his way.” -via Twitter @markhaynesnba / January 1, 2022