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DeMarcus Cousins Settles MVP Debate: “If You Don’t Pick LeBron, You’re Just Flat Out A Hater”  

It appears to be that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the likeliest player to walk away with the Most Valuable Player award this year (rightfully so), and LeBron James, who has had a fantastic year at 35 years old is a close second.

But contrary to this popular belief, former Lakers center DeMarcus Cousins stated that he doesn’t believe Antetokounmpo has overtaken James as the MVP at any point of this season, consequently making a case as to why his former Laker teammate is the deserving MVP, during an interview with ‘Jalen & Jacoby’ on ESPN.

“Overtake him? I think he’s the MVP. He’s 35, he’s the only player in the league right now with gray hair. What more do you need? What more do you need from him, man? He’s doing this with gray hair and a gray beard. What more do you need? I don’t know what more you need… If you don’t pick LeBron, you’re just flat out a hater at this point.”

DeMarcus Cousins is certainly joking while making his argument for James, but we could assume that he indeed has James as his MVP of the season. After all, Boogie has seen James put in a ton work of firsthand while being a Laker earlier this season.

James has taken more of a playmaker role this year, thus seeing a huge increase in his assists numbers – having a career high in assists per game with 10.6 which ranks first in the NBA. To go along with his elite playmaking ability, James has averaged 25.7 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game on 49.8% shooting from the field this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar seemed like he was closing the gap in his two-man race with Antetokounmpo before the season was halted, but the Greek Freak has been consistent since day one and checks all the boxes as well. His averages of 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists per game on 54.7% FG are certainly MVP-worthy.

Both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks enjoy a high level of regular season success and are currently sitting first place in their respective conferences. The two top-tier teams are among a small number of teams who have a great shot of winning the NBA title ahead of the season restart in Orlando, Florida.