We thought the MVP race was over months ago. We thought there would be no controversy or debate this year. Or at least not much.
The Rockets were winning at a torrid pace and James Harden was proving unstoppable on the offensive end…and not all THAT bad on the defensive end. He was even leading the Rockets to the best record in the NBA while his teammate, Chris Paul, sat out games (24 in all by the end of the season). It couldn’t be denied that the Rockets were better with Paul in the line-up, but in either case, the Rockets were doing the unthinkable- staking claim to the best record in the NBA while the Warrior Super Team remained in the league!
And then Lebron erupted, putting his team squarely on his shoulders as he so often does while going on a tear in which he seemed to put up triple-doubles on an almost-nightly basis.
And then it was a two-man race.
And then Westbrook stepped up, making up for the somewhat-disappointing (versus expectations) play of his superstar teammates Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Westbrook zeroed in as the season’s end drew near, willing the Thunder to what was ultimately the fourth seed in the Western Conference, and home-court advantage in the first round. Not many saw that coming.
And now it’s like 2017 all over again.
Here we are at the end of the season, and once again we find ourselves in almost the same debate as we found ourselves in a year ago: should Harden, Lebron, or Westbrook be named MVP?
Let’s look at the stats and then explore the arguments:
LEBRON
The argument for Lebron goes a little like this:
Lebron is the best player in the league. Everyone knows it. He carried the Cavs this year, played all 82 games, and showed remarkable versatility in his game. He is the most valuable player to his team.
All fair points. Lebron IS the best all-around player in the league, but that doesn’t necessarily make him the MVP. He is probably the most valuable player to his team as well, though you could probably conduct some statistical analysis to prove otherwise. For instance, look at the Rockets’ record when Chris Paul plays. They are seemingly unstoppable when Paul plays, but then again, they are still very good when he doesn’t. So maybe look at the Bucks’ record when Giannis does and doesn’t play. But in the end, Lebron played all 82 games, and we can all venture a guess that if he sat out games, the Cavs likely would have lost those games. I would conclude that Lebron is indeed the most valuable player to his team. But that doesn’t necessarily make him the MVP either.
The argument against Lebron? His team finished fourth. In the EASTERN CONFERENCE. He played all 82 games and teams whose stars were out much of the year (Sixers, Celtics) still finished above his team in the final standings. And while his stats for the year put him in the conversation for MVP, others had more impressive stats.
HARDEN
The argument for Harden goes like this:
He was unstoppable this year. Nobody could defend him and he changed the way the game is played while leading the league in scoring and leading his team to the best record in the league, while playing in the difficult Western Conference.
Again, all fair points. Whether you like how Harden plays or not, he seems to have identified and exploited a loophole in the way games are called, and he has become unstoppable as a result. Coaches and commentators have called hin the most dominant offensive player of the last decade (what short memories they have- can you say “Steph”?). Harden is a threat to score on EVERY play, and the Rockets offense relies heavily on him (though not as heavily as in previous years). Harden had great numbers, though not as well-rounded as those he put up last year, but the impact he had on his team was undeniable, as this year’s Rockets were great. Not many thought the Rockets would finish this season with a better record than the Warriors, but they did. Harden was the best player on the best team in the league.
The argument against Harden, however, might be stronger than the argument in favor of him. Harden’s statistics were not as impressive as those others put up. While his team had the best record in the league, one only needs to look at the impact Paul’s presence had on the team in order to wonder how the Rockets would have finished the year without the addition of Paul. Was Harden the most valuable player to his team when compared to others? It’s hard to say. Did he have the best stat line in the league? No. And then…he only played in 71 games. Not too bad but not as many as others in the conversation.
But when you watched him, did he prove that he was in the conversation for MVP in every game he played? Absolutely.
WESTBROOK
Few even have Westbrook in the conversation for MVP. Is that because he shouldn’t be or because it FEELS like he shouldn’t be? I’d argue the latter, without a doubt.
The argument for Westbrook to repeat as MVP is actually quite strong. His statistics are better than those of Lebron or Harden, if you look across the board. He averaged more rebounds, assists, and steals than the other two, and his points per game average was only two points lower than Lebron’s and five points lower than Harden’s. He played in 80 games, almost 14% more than Harden and almost as many as Lebron and averaged only 30 seconds less per game than Lebron. But what about his team’s record, you ask? Well, the team finished 48–34, far below the record of Harden’s Rockets, but almost identical to Lebron’s Cavs (50–32). And Russ sat out two games (I’m not sure if they lost them both to be honest). The Thunder finished the season by clinching the four seed, just like the Cavs, only the Thunder achieved that in the far more competitive Western Conference.
So what’s the argument against Russ?
It actually seems like the argument is that it just doesn’t FEEL like he should be in contention. Last year, he didn’t have Melo or PG-13 on his team (though he had Oladipo who was as good or better than either this season) and he put up better numbers. But last year, the Thunder finished as the sixth seed, wihtout home-court advantage. So his team was arguably better this year…just not as MUCH better as we thought they should be. It FEELS like Russ took a step back this year and the Thunder did as well, but that’s not the reality. Sure, he averaged five less points per game, but he also averaged less turnovers per game, led his team to a better record and playoff seed, and had almost identical statistics otherwise.
Conclusion
This MVP debate is no different than last year’s, or any other year’s for that matter.
- If you want to go with the best player on the best team, then you probably go with Harden.
- If you want to go with the player that is believed to be the most valuable to his team, you go with Lebron.
- If you want to go with the player with the most impressive stats, you go with Russ.
So who do you go with depends more on your philosophy of what the MVP is than anything else.