A day after Miami Heat superstar LeBron James missed becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history by one vote, Gary Washburn, the lone voter who voted for someone other than James, said he did not vote for James because he thought New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony was more valuable to the Knicks than James was to the Heat.
“My vote had more to do with Anthony and less to do with the dominance of LeBron,” Washburn, a Boston Globe NBA writer, wrote in a Monday column. “If you were to take Anthony off the Knicks, they are a lottery team. James plays with two other All-Stars, the league’s all-time 3-point leader, a defensive stalwart, and a fearless point guard. The Heat are loaded.”
James joined Bill Russell as the only player in history to win the award four times in five seasons and received 120 of 121 first-place votes. Kevin Durant finished second and Anthony third.
“I’m a historian of the game,” James said. “I know the game. I know these guys paved the way for myself and the rest of us.”
James said there was no limit to his potential when he said over the weekend, “I don’t know my ceiling,”
According to the NBA, “the only other player to win the award in four of five seasons is Bill Russell (1961, 62, 63, 65), and the only other players to win at least four regular-season MVPs are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Russell (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (four).”
Rounding out the top five in voting were Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul, and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant.
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