ESPN panel debates if Patrick Mahomes or LeBron James is the MVP in all sports
If you were to pick the most valuable player in all of sports in the United States, which name springs to mind first?
For Chiefs fans, that might be quarterback Patrick Mahomes. For NBA fans, it’s likely Lakers star LeBron James.
ESPN’s “First Take” crew discussed that very question Monday, and Stephen A. Smith and Marcus Spears went with James. Max Kellerman made an impassioned plea for Mahomes.
Like most MVP awards, this boiled down to who is the best player and who makes the biggest impact. Kellerman said James unquestionably generates more money.
“That’s not how I heard that question. I hear that question as who’s more valuable on the field of play, and that is undoubtedly Patrick Mahomes,” Kellerman said. “This is not a Lifetime Achievement Award. I’m always suspicious when I hear LeBron MVP, LeBron Most Valuable, and then everyone says he’s 35 years old. That’s got nothing to do with anything in that evaluation. Doesn’t matter how old you are. What are you doing right now? It’s not a Lifetime Achievement Award we’re talking about.
“In terms of value on the field of play do people understand Mahomes is doing something that you’re not supposed to be able to do? A football player, even at the quarterback position, is not supposed to give you a premium over everyone else in their sport, is not supposed to have an influence over the outcome of games the way a star basketball player does. There’s just too many players in football, too many variables, too few games, so wild deviations from the mean. And yet Mahomes is doing it.”
That’s just part of what Kellerman said about Mahomes. You can listen to more of his case for Mahomes and what Smith and Spears said about James:
