Before the 2019-20 NBA season came to a halt, LeBron James was making a steady push for Most Valuable Player consideration, playing catch-up to reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks' star had been in the lead for the vast majority of the campaign and as a recent survey shows, was still far and away the choice to get the honors.

Per ESPN's Tim Bontemps:

“In a survey of 70 media members who cover the league, Antetokounmpo was the clear leader in MVP balloting, earning 60 of the 70 possible first-place votes to open a commanding lead over James, who had an equally commanding lead over the rest of the field.”

With only 19 games remaining in the regular-season schedule, the chances that James could manage to leapfrog Antetokounmpo looked very unlikely, even before the spread of the coronavirus put pause to that discussion.

ESPN simulated the standard voting process for this award, throwing in a mixture of local beat writers from across the league, as well as national and international reporters. Much like the NBA's voting system, every first-place vote counted for 10 points, seven for second place, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.

The results were as follows:

Chart courtesy of ESPN

None other than Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James received first-place votes. None besides the two aforementioned and Harden received second-place votes.

In a voting process that is often murky with plenty or arguable elements, this was a clean victory for The Greek Freak, who ran away with a 670-to-514 victory over King James.

His averages of 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists speak for themselves, all while leading the Bucks to a 53-12 record — the best in the league. It appears that has been enough of an argument to warrant what could be a second-consecutive MVP award.