Why James Harden is the NBA's MVP

Harden a strong candidate for MVP. Photo Credit: Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports

This year has been a great year for the NBA in terms of MVP candidates. There are so many players to choose from Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and James Harden. All have had a spectacular season so far, but Harden stands above the rest.

By: Niqko Marshall ( @NDMHoops )

No one ever remembers an MVP race so close in recent NBA history each candidate literally cannot take a night off and have to give 100 percent night in and not out. I'm quite sure if there was a way the award could be split amongst three or four players the NBA would do it. 
 

Each player has its own case. For instance for most people the league-wide favorite to win the award is Stephen Curry. The Golden State Warriors have the best record in the league and have a ten game lead over the next team in their conference. Curry is the best player on the Warriors team he averages 23.7 points per game and 7.8 assist and is second in the league in win shares with 14.36. 

The Warriors are also one of the top teams in offense and defense and they are number one in the league in win margins. Curry is having an incredible season, but the award goes to the most valuable which brings me to this next question.

Would the Warriors still be a playoff team without Curry? It is still very much possible that they could be an eighth or seventh seed in the West. The Warriors have two 20 point scorers on their team in Curry and Klay Thompson. Draymond Green is a very good player as well and could be in contention for most improved player of the year and defensive player of the year. Bottom line the Warriors have a talented team in which they would have to need Curry to carry them.

LeBron James is the best player in the NBA and has been for a while with that being said he will always be in the discussion for MVP every year. What makes his case not as strong this year is that James missed time due to injury it wasn't one or two games it was two weeks' worth of games. His Cavaliers team is second in the Eastern conference and could be considered the favorites to represent the East in the finals.

Westbrook has been putting on an amazing show for his team and NBA fans this season with over eight triple-doubles for the season. He also leads the league in scoring and is top five in assist per game. If the award were given off of pure production, Westbrook would win it. 

He too just like James has missed significant time this year due to injury, and his OKC team is currently eighth in the Western Conference. The eighth place stand could be attributed to the injuries OKC have suffered they were without both of their stars early in the season and had to play catch up. Now one of them (Kevin Durant) is out for the season and OKC is barely staying afloat in the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

Now James Harden has been the heart and soul of the Rockets all season. The Rockets have been depleted by injuries all season, and Harden has managed to will his team to another 50 win season and a third seed(currently) in the western conference. 

Dwight Howard has missed more games than he has played this season, same goes for Terrence Jones, and even starting point guard Pat Beverley has missed significant time and as of last week he is out for the rest of the season with a ligament tear in his wrist. Even other contributors on the team such as Donatas Motiejunas and Kostas Papanikolaou and Jason Terry have missed time.

Harden has only missed one game, and that was due to an unfortunate suspension. Harden is second in the league in scoring with 27.2 Points per game which is number one amongst shooting guards. Not only is he second in scoring he leads the league in free throw attempts and free throws made, he is second among guards in rebounding, first among shooting guards in assist. 

Many follow the narrative about James Harden that he doesn't play defense well he is actually third in the NBA with 139 total steals. Statistically, Harden is having the best season of his career but he is much more valuable to the Rockets then to any player on any other team. Houston can't afford to be without Harden at any cost which makes him that much more valuable. He leads all of the NBA with 14.8 win shares and minutes played.

This year will certainly be tough to decide who the award should go to but looking at it from a "valuable" stand point the favorite should be James Harden. LeBron James is the best player in the league and Curry is the best player on the best team. Westbrook is having the best statistical season and Harden is the most valuable to his team