LeBron James Take to Twitter to respond to ESPN’s off-season poll of 10 NBA scouts and executives that left without a single vote for the title of NBA Most Valuable Player.

James responded sarcastically to a tweet saying he had finished playing, then sent a separate message to his 50 million Twitter followers announcing that he would be using it as fuel for next season.

Thanks! As if I don’t need more of me! # washed👑

– LeBron James (@KingJames) August 19, 2021

In the poll, the Milwaukee Bucks star, Giannis Antikonmoand the star of the Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant, they split the votes evenly among these 10 scouts and CEOs for the title of best player in the league. Antetokounmue was credited with leading the Bucks to an NBA title and Durant for his heroic performance in Brooklyn’s second-round loss to the Bucks, while his fellow superstars James Harden NS Keri Irving They suffered injuries in addition to their role with Team USA in leading them to gold at the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month.

The only other player considered to vote is James, and many of those surveyed debated choosing him before finally choosing a different option. The decisive factor in the end was a combination of age (he will turn 37 in December) and injury, having missed two of the past three seasons with the first major injuries of his debut Hall of Fame career.

This is not uncharted territory. After the Lakers missed the playoffs in their first season in Los Angeles in 2019, that same poll of 20 people, again, James didn’t get a single vote, with Kohi Leonard He got 12, Antetokounmpo got six, and Harden got the other. two.

James responded to that by leading the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title inside the bubble at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. He was firmly in the MVP debate of the season when a sprained ankle suspended his season in March. The Lakers lost to the eventual Western Conference champion Phoenix Suns in six games in the first round of the playoffs after James featured in Los Angeles as the striker. Anthony DavisHe suffered a groin strain during the fourth match.

In this off-season, the Lakers tried to prepare for the title race, with the arrival of the super goalkeeper Russell Westbrook And the new “Big Three” briefing on many notable veterans, including Carmelo Anthony NS Dwight Howard.