Despite playing really well prior to the NBA hiatus, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is fine with the MVP race being over.
The decison came as the league aims to restart the 22-team bubble season in Orlando, Florida next week.
Eight regular season games will be played to determine the final seeding for the postseason.
With that said, “King James” will not have the opportunity to further his case for a fifth MVP trophy, should he be nominated to win.
“I’m not dissapointed because things happen,” James said.
“You control what you can control, and I can’t control that. As far as the MVP race, I think that I’ve shown what I’m capable of doing. Not only individually but from a team’s perspective, us being No.1 in the West.”
The fact that James’s Lakers sit atop the Western Conference is a point of pride for the future Hall-of-Famer.
For his first 15 years, James played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat out East.
It was always a talking point for fans and analysts to discuss the “easier” route James had going through the East as oppossed to navigating through the tougher Western Confernce.
“There was a lot of conversation about,’LeBron can do those things in the East, but if he ever came to West, what would he do?” James said.
At the time of the stoppage, James had averages of 25.7 points and a league-best 10.6 assists per game.
He became the sixth player in NBA histroy to average at least 25 points and 10 assists per game in the same season.
According to James, he was unaware of the of the voting stipulation until a reporter asked him about it on Monday.
On Saturday, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel gave his support toward James’s MVP bid.
In 10 of LA’s games after the All-Star break, LeBron James had averaged 30 points on 55 percent shooting (37 percent from the three point line) along with 9 assists and 8.2 rebounds.
The Lakers ended that stretch 8-2 with wins over the Boston Celtics, LA Clippers, the Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee Bucks.