Portland guard Damian Lillard has plenty of admiration for LeBron James. Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Damian Lillard thinks LeBron James is NBA MVP for this season

By Zac Wassink | Last updated May 27, 2020 6:42 PM ET

When NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a 24-team format for the crowning of the 2020 Stanley Cup champion on Tuesday, he also officially ended the regular season and, thus, completed all competitions for individual honors.

If the NBA takes a similar route to finish the season that was suspended on March 11 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard is ready to name the 2019-2020 Most Valuable Player.

While speaking on ESPN's "Jalen & Jacoby" on Wednesday, Lillard identified 35-year-old Los Angeles Lakers superstar and three-time champion LeBron James as his NBA MVP ahead of the playoffs:

Damian Lillard says LeBron James should win MVP this season

'They're the number 1 team in the west ... for him to be at the age he's at .... and the level he's performing at ... In my opinion, he's MVP' pic.twitter.com/Sn6O3TR090
— Yardbarker (@yardbarker) May 27, 2020

"This season, I think it's LeBron. (The Lakers) are the No. 1 team in the West. They've been consistent all year long. And for him to be at the age he's at with the amount of miles that he has on his body. How often he's talked about the pressure they put on him in every little thing that he does, and the level he's performing at, I feel like, in my opinion, I think he's the MVP."

According to Basketball-Reference, James ended the evening of March 11 as the league-leader in total assists (636), assists per game (10.6), and assist percentage (49.7). He averaged 25.7 points, 10.6 assists, 7.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks across 60 regular-season appearances. Pretty impressive.

The Lakers entered the NBA hiatus atop the Western Conference at 49-14, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) in the league's overall standings.

On Tuesday, Lillard told Yahoo Sports he's not interested in playing this summer if the Trail Blazers, currently ninth in the West and 3 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the conference's final playoff spot for a standard postseason tournament, "don't have a true opportunity to get into the playoffs."

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association haven't yet agreed to terms for the season's completion.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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