Davis: LeBron 'cares about championships,' not MVP awards

Anthony Davis believes LeBron James won't be bothered if the Los Angeles Lakers' ongoing slump hurts his chances of winning a fifth MVP award.

"Put it to you like this," Davis told The Athletic's Bill Oram. "I know that that man does not care about MVP awards. He cares about championships.

"So if he loses the MVP and wins the championship like he did last year, he doesn't care. So that's what his mindset is, he's not focused on MVPs. He's focused on Finals MVPs."

James is arguably the front-runner for this year's MVP award. He's averaging 25.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, eight assists, and a steal and has played in all 33 games for the Lakers, who rank third in the Western Conference.

However, Los Angeles has dropped off mightily since Davis suffered a calf strain and re-aggravated an Achilles issue on Feb. 14 against the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers dropped that game to the Nuggets and then went 1-4 in their next five contests. Their only win came against the last-place Minnesota Timberwolves, and they lost by 25 points - their worst defeat of the season - to the league-leading Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

James last won the regular-season MVP honor in 2013, which capped off his penultimate season with the Miami Heat. However, he's won two titles and two Finals MVP awards since, accomplishing both in 2016 and 2020 with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lakers, respectively.