Los Angeles Lakers: What LeBron James needs to do to win MVP

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(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. LeBron James needs to average at least a double-double

The NBA really loved the Russell Westbrook triple-double storyline from his MVP winning season during the 2016-2017 NBA season. Despite averaging a triple-double again last season, the honors were given to James Harden.

So having more than one stat in double figures is not going to guarantee anyone winning an MVP award. However, with everything else surrounding LeBron James, having that pretty number in the box score is going to undoubtedly help his case.

James does not even need to secure a triple-double average to sway the voters. All James needs to do is get either his rebounding or his assists numbers slightly up so that one can be in double digits.

Both are likely going to see a jump considering that James has so many quality scorers to target offensively and might play some center in crunch time.

LeBron averaged 9.1 assists and 8.6 rebounds a game last season. Neither of those numbers is too far off from the leap into double-double territory.

I was initially going to make this slide about his scoring and how his scoring would need to improve to win the award. However, with 28 points per game being James’ ceiling at this point in his career, it needs to be something else that improves: either the assists or rebounds.