by Marcel Mutoni / @ marcel_mutoni
On Sunday afternoon, the inevitable became official, as LeBron James took home the Maurice Podoloff trophy for the fourth time in his career. Somewhat incredibly, not everyone thought he deserved it.
According to one lone voting media member—Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe—Carmelo Anthony should’ve won the 2012-13 NBA regular season MVP. The veteran reporter reasons that Melo had a bigger load to carry in New York than LeBron James did in Miami.
Per the Globe and Yahoo! Sports:
I voted for Carmelo Anthony based on his importance to the New York Knicks, who, if you haven’t been paying attention the past decade, have failed to be relevant. When the voting was announced Sunday afternoon, I was flabbergasted to learn I was the lone voter among 121 to not give LeBron a first-place vote, truly believing Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, and perhaps even Kobe Bryant would snag a first-place vote or two.
“I just honestly felt that Carmelo Anthony lifted the Knicks to new heights this season – a No. 2 seed and their first division title in 19 years – with an aging roster, the team’s second-best player [Amar’e Stoudemire] out most of the season and a myriad of other injuries,” Washburn said. “LeBron James is unquestionably the best player in the league, but I felt this season Anthony had more value to his team.”
When asked about getting 120 out of 121 first-place MVP votes, LeBron James joked that it was probably a writer from New York whose bias in the long-running Heat/Knicks rivalry played a role in the final tally.
During the trophy presentation, LBJ talked about wanting to win the Defensive Player of the Year award a lot more than the MVP (unanimously or not).
Win an eye towards a second straight NBA title, these are all good problems to have for the League’s best player.
