Major Olympics Revelation Has Fans Convinced LeBron James Robbed Steph Curry Of MVP Award at Paris Games
LeBron James' controversial MVP win at the 2024 Paris Olympics sparks debate. Did he deserve it over Steph Curry? Get the details here.
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Rome wasn't built in a day, so was Team USA basketball’s gold medal victory at the Paris Olympics. The Americans started the event as the crowd’s favorite and lived up the expectation throughout the games.
Now, as the basketball events came a full circle and LeBron James was awarded as the MVP, fans and sports analysts are debating over the actual deserving player for the award, i.e. Stephen Curry.
All was well till it was recently revealed that the voting options were present all around even before the semi final games. And the organizers are being allegedly accused of intentionally opening the voting lines earlier so that LeBron James could win the award, even before all the deciding matches being played.
Adding fuel to the fire, one of the top NBA analysts, Brian Windhorst, recently pointed out and said, “I was told that it's media voting, which the media could vote on, there was a QR code allegedly on the wall... They opened the voting during the semifinals.”
Shortly after the discussion emerged on X/Twitter, with 'LeBron' trending and nearly 45,000 tweets at that moment, fans expressed their opinions fervently. In response to one of the tweets, a fan commented, "So it was pre selected for Lebron to win MVP???"
Another user pointed out the timing of MVP voting lines being opened so early, and wrote, “Obviously. curry would’ve probably won if it was opened after."
However, comments were made from both sides as a LeBron supporter wrote, “It’s Olympic MVP Voting, not Olympic Finals MVP Voting. Duh?”
Another user wrote, “2 games vs an entire tournament. I know who my MVP is.”
Surprisingly, it was not only the fans who were drawing the analogy, some of the most prominent sports analysts have also shared their opinions. Stephen A. Smith, during his show, said, “I thought Steph Curry deserved the MVP... Not because LeBron [James] wasn't great because he was. But when you steal pivotal moments like that to secure gold in two thrillers, Serbia & then France, you deserve the MVP.”
In addition to Smith’s siding with Stephen Curry, Skip Bayless also tweeted similar thoughts.
“We do not beat Serbia without Steph Curry. We do not beat France without Steph Curry. 17-26 threes in the semifinal and final, in games that invariably become 3-point shooting contests. I predicted he'd be our most important player. He obviously should've been Most Valuable,” Bayless tweeted.
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How good were Stephen Curry’s stats against LeBron James?
It is important to highlight that Stephen Curry's performance during the Olympic Games was relatively understated until the semifinals of the tournament. After an initial 11-point game against Serbia, expectations grew for him to elevate his scoring in the following matches. Unfortunately, his contributions diminished, as he managed just 3 points against South Sudan, 8 points against Puerto Rico, and 7 points against Brazil.
In contrast, LeBron James consistently delivered double-digit scoring, setting him apart. While Curry's remarkable performances in pivotal games have been cited by his supporters as evidence for his MVP candidacy, it's important to consider this context.
To make things much clearer, here’s a side-by-side comparison of LeBron James and Stephen Curry:
Curry: 89 points, 19 rebounds, 15 assists, 50/48/100 shooting splits, +86 plus/minus
James: 85 points, 41 rebounds, 51 assists, 66/31/73 shooting splits, +84 plus/minus
When comparing LeBron James and Stephen Curry's contributions at the Olympics, James exhibited superior statistics in rebounds, assists, and blocks. Ultimately, the recipient of the MVP Award at the Paris 2024 Olympics may not bear significant weight in the long run.
The paramount focus remains on the team's collective achievement of securing the Olympic Gold Medal. Both James and Curry, two of the most influential players of the past two decades, shared in this triumph.
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