If J.R. Smith had it his way, teammate LeBron James would have won his fifth MVP award this season.
According to Smith, LBJ does a lot more for his team than Stephen Curry, the League’s first ever unanimous winner of the highest individual award.
Russell Westbrook would be Smith’s other choise for the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
Per USA Today:
Given that the players now vote for their own MVP – James Harden won MVP as voted on by the NBA players association last season – Cavs two-way stopper J.R. Smith was asked who he would vote for. […] “Other than LeBron, I don’t really know who else to vote for,” Smith said on Thursday ahead of Game 4. ”I mean somebody who does everything for a team, whether it’s scoring, getting stops, rebounds, steals, blocked shots. There’s not more of a complete player, so I don’t see how he couldn’t be the most valuable.”
“If I couldn’t vote for somebody on my own team I’d probably vote for a guy like Russ (Westbrook). I mean, he’s energy, effort, consistently, got the total package. You gotta go for a guy like that.”
Smith clarified that Curry, who’s averaged just 16 points in the first three Finals games, would be in his top-five, however. […] “Would he be in my Top-5? I mean, yeah, he’s very valuable to the team, to what they do. If you take him out of the equation I think they’re a totally different team, but I mean he would definitely be in there. Absolutely.”
