LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will square off Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors to open their play-in tournament. James already is giving praise to Stephen Curry -- even labeling Curry as his MVP pick for this season.

"I mean, just look at what he's done this year," James said yesterday. "I don't know anything else if you're looking for an MVP. If Steph is not on Golden State's team, what are we looking at?

"We get caught up in the records sometimes," he added. "We get caught up in the, OK, who has the best record, instead of just saying who had the best season that year. And Steph has had, in my opinion, the best season all year."

Curry has undoubtedly played elite basketball all season long. He averaged a career-high 32.0 points per game in the regular season and won his second scoring title while leading Golden State to a 39-33 record. The current MVP favorite, however, is Denver's Nikola Jokic.