The MVP Race

The 2016-2017 NBA season is two man race for the MVP. Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder has been nothing less than spectacular. He has been the epitome of an offensive superstar and a triple double machine. James Harden has been the closest thing to a perfect player I have seen this season. He is nightmare matchup for every coach and team in the NBA and absolutely doing it all. You guard him one way he hits you another way. You try to stop the drive he steps back for a three, you push up he drives by, you clog the paint he dishes for a three, you guard the thee point line, he alley oops or leads a teammate for a dunk, when all else fails he gets to the line for two when he doesn't go for three free throws. In other words unstoppable.

Both those players are not having normal seasons, and the talk of the association has been that this is going to be neck and neck race down to the wire for the MVP and I would agree if we didn't have a recent MVP race to base this decision out of. My question is it really that close of a race.

Back in 2015 Steph Curry and James Harden were in a similar race for the MVP. The numbers were in the favor of the beard in almost every category with a least talented team and leading a team that didn't have their second best player for more than half the year. Somehow someway the Rockets ended up second in the West only to the Steph Curry team Golden State Warriors. The argument everybody gave was Steph led the Warriors to best record in the league and just flat out won more than James Harden. In my opinion that's a good argument and Steph Curry was a deserved MVP.

Now it brings me to this season. We can go back and forward all day and night giving reasons why Westbrook and Harden one or both deserve the MVP and all would be right.

This is not to take anything away from Russell Westbrook. He has been amazing and I am rooting for him to average a triple double in the seasons but if the criteria of winning are going to be in consideration again I don't see how Harden doesn't win it. Russell is being superman out in the court this season but the best the Thunder are looking forward to is 6th seed maybe a 5th seed. The Rockets have a good advantage and it looks like it's hard for them to lose the 3 seed and have a good chance for the 2 seed.

The only thing I’m saying is that if winning is the biggest criteria again this year I think the trophy has a name already.