LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been embroiled in a pretty tight race for the MVP trophy this season. Both of their teams are at the top of their respective conferences and many are anticipating an NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks. There is an argument to be made for both of these players when it comes to MVP honors although not everyone thinks the race is that tight.

As you would expect, former NBA star and current analyst, Paul Pierce, believes Giannis is the clear-cut winner here. As Pierce explained on ESPN, you can’t award LeBron the trophy just because he beat Giannis in a regular-season game. For now, Pierce thinks Giannis has simply been the better player this season.

“You don’t base MVP off of one game like it’s the All-Star game,” Pierce said. “LeBron won the battle (against Giannis), but the war is already won by Giannis. (…) He’s putting historic numbers for a guy his size, he has the best team, a record-wise and the numbers speak for themselves. He’s been dominating all year long, so I take him for MVP and I’ll take LeBron second.”

Pierce’s opinion shouldn’t be a shock to anyone especially since he always seems to be hating on LeBron. Even if he’s right with what he’s saying, there is always a bit of bias behind it and you have to be cognizant of that. 

Let us know who you think should win MVP, in the comments below.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James have turned the Los Angeles Lakers into title contenders this season and if the regular season were to end right now, they would finish first in the Western Conference. They have been nothing short of dominant and after the weekend they just had, some people think they can actually win the NBA title. LeBron was a monster as he dismantled the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks while also defeating the Kawhi Leonard-led Los Angeles Clippers.

After yesterday's game, there was a serious debate on social media about whether or not LeBron deserves to be the NBA MVP. AD was very adamant while speaking about this topic and offered a full array of thoughts after the game. As you can see, Davis isn't feeling all of the LeBron detractors out there. 

Los Angeles Lakers All Star LeBron James is on the short list of NBA players in the running for the 2020 NBA MVP Award, but he is much more focused on being the greatest player in the world than winning that trophy for the fifth time. In fact, it doesn't sound like LeBron cares much for the league's regular season MVP honor.

Speaking with reporters on Thursday, LeBron explained that his motivation is grounded in his pursuit to be the best to ever play the game.

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Says LeBron, "It [the MVP Award] never motivated me... To be the best, to be the best to ever play the game, motivates me." He adds, "I've never gone into a season saying, 'OK, league MVP is what I want to do.' I've gone into the season saying, 'OK, I want to be the MVP of this team, I want to be the best player in the world."

In his 17th NBA season, the four-time MVP is averaging 25.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and a league-leading 10.7 assists per game, all while leading the Lakers to a Western Conference-best 47-13 record. At 35 years old he has shown absolutely no signs of slowing in his pursuit to become the greatest all around player to ever pick up a basketball.

LeBron's next test will come on Friday night, as the Lakers host reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks in a potential NBA Finals preview. That game, airing on ESPN, is scheduled to tipoff at 10:30pm ET.

Click here to see what Giannis had to say about the MVP-caliber season that LeBron is putting together this year.

Kendrick Perkins won an NBA title at the tail end of his career while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers. While he didn't get very much playing time, he got to experience first hand just how good LeBron James is. Ever since getting into broadcasting, Perkins has defended LeBron at every single turn and has made sure to be complimentary of him. Today, Perkins continued his trend of bigging up LeBron as he joined Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman on ESPN's First Take. 

During the segment below, Perkins makes the case that LeBron deserves to be the MVP over Giannis Antetokounmpo. As he explains, LeBron missed out on countless MVP trophies because he played in a weaker Eastern Conference. Now, voters don't keep that same energy and instead, they reward Giannis who is playing in that same weaker conference. Perkins says LeBron has much more difficult competition and that at the end of the day, he should be the MVP.