As any superstar does, LeBron James has his share of doubters in the league. However, FS1 NBA analyst Ric Bucher is adding more fuel to the fire, claiming that Klutch Sports is trying to influence him to vote for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar as league MVP.
An alleged audio leak involving Bucher has resurfaced, sparking fan speculation about the role of sports agencies, particularly Rich Paul’s firm, in influencing the outcome of the Association’s individual award discussions.
"I was actually shocked that I got a text, or an email from the Klutch agency that was promoting LeBron James for MVP,” said Bucher in the audio. “I was like, wait a minute, he's not even the MVP of this team. This team doesn’t have the record that it has, isn’t where it is, isn’t the dangerous opponent that it is without Anthony Davis being healthy.”
Although the audio was pretty telling, it left out very important parts. He didn’t mention when or what season that was, so it could just be any of the years that LeBron wore Purple and Gold. However, let’s put our detective hats on and dig deeper.
What year was Ric Bucher talking about?
The four-time MVP decided to take his talents to Tinseltown in the summer of 2018. Anthony Davis was still a Pelican around this time, so that couldn’t be it. The Lakers acquired AD with a king’s ransom of young talent and picks in 2019, so their first full partnership was in the 2019-20 season that ended in a Bubble championship.
It’s highly possible that Bucher was talking about this particular season for one reason: LeBron was actually in the mix for the Michael Jordan trophy in 2020. “The King” placed second behind Giannis Antetokounmpo in the MVP voting, with James Harden, Luka Doncic, and Kawhi Leonard rounding out the top five. Bron never got closer than 10th in any other year after that.
As controversial as the alleged Bucher exposè was, the four-time champion had all the merit to be in the conversation. That was the season he played point guard full-time and led the league in assists (10.2) in Year 17.
Related: "If I could go back and do some things differently, I would" - When Kobe admitted he felt responsible for the major overhaul the Lakers underwent in 2004
Was Klutch going out of its way to control the narrative?
At this point in his career, LBJ has nothing to prove. It doesn’t matter if many consider him the GOAT or not—he is definitely sitting at the table. So, the elephant in the room in the alleged audio leak is this: Was it really wrong for Klutch Sports to lobby for their client?
There's a clear divide on this issue, with fans having differing opinions. Some think it’s Klutch’s job in the first place to look out for the best interest of their client, and this one happens to be LeBron, no less. Others feel it’s not right and that unwanted solicitation was a desperate attempt to control the narrative. Bucher thought AD deserved the award more than James; sixteen of his colleagues thought LeBron was the MVP.
At the end of the day, you can’t please everybody. 101 voters had different criteria for the same award. Klutch may be working the angles for Bron, but in the MVP discussion, the only consensus is that there will always be dissent.
Related: Rich Paul shares why he wished to represent Allen Iverson - "Allen Iverson to me was culture before people even understood what culture was"
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