It’s been a while since LeBron James has last been named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, as he hasn’t received the league’s highest individual honor since 2013. It’s also been a minute since a member of the Los Angeles Lakers took home an MVP award — Kobe Bryant was the last guy to do it back in 2008.
If you ask NBA general managers, both of those droughts are going to come to an end this season. NBA.com did its annual polling of GMs around the league, and in the eyes of the league’s executives, James is in line to edge out Kevin Durant and win his fifth league MVP award.
James led the way with the support of 30 percent of GMs heading into this season, with Durant hot in his heels, as 27 percent of general managers picked him to win the award. Anthony Davis (17 percent) wasn’t too terribly far behind, while 10 percent of executives believe James Harden will go back-to-back. Beyond them, five players were picked to win the award: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Russell Westbrook.
In scores of other games, the Golden State Warriors were selected by 87 percent of general managers to win their third NBA Championship in a row. The only other teams to get picked to win it all were the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics, both receiving support from seven percent of GMs. As for who is the best team in each conference, both the Celtics and Warriors were picked by 90 percent of general managers, with 10 percent of general managers throwing their support behind the Rockets and the Toronto Raptors.
You can check out the full poll here, which touches on things like who will end up winning Rookie of the Year (spoiler: GMs, like NBA Draft Twitter, love Luka Doncic), who is the league’s best head coach, and much more.
