NBA MVP voting results in career-first for LeBron James

Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers earned the award for the first time in his career with 73% of the first-place votes and 915 total points to Nikola Jokic's 674. Milwaukee Bucks two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo finished in third place with 606 points, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum came in fourth with 280 points and Oklahoma City Thunder up-and-comer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander placed fifth with 46 points.

James has won four MVP awards and four Finals MVP honors. He last won MVP 10 years ago while his most recent Finals MVP came in the NBA Bubble in 2020. 

Since his 2012-13 regular season MVP, James has finished as the runner-up three times (most recently in the 2019-20 campaign). The 19-time All-Star has come in third place twice since then, fourth place on one occasion and tied for 11th once (in the 2018-19 season).

Battling father time and injuries and needing extra rest has severely limited James' chances at tying Bill Russell and Michael Jordan for the second-most MVPs in NBA history. While he's still typically playing at an elite level at 38 years old, LBJ was limited to 101 regular season games combined from the 2020-21 campaign through the 2021-22 season where he finished tied for 10th and tied for 13th in the MVP voting.

James ended this season averaging 28.9 points (fifth-highest in his career), 8.3 rebounds (fourth-highest), 6.8 assists and 35.5 minutes per game with a .500/.321/.768 shooting line across his 55 contests. Through seven playoff games this spring, he's averaged 22.1 points, 11.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 37.6 minutes per tilt.

King James and the Los Angeles Lakers won Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series against the defending-champion Golden State Warriors on the road on Tuesday night, with the future Hall-of-Famer recording 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.