The most awaited individual piece of hardware, the Most Valuable Player award will be disputed between Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, Houston Rockets ‘points guard' James Harden, and San Antonio Spurs two-way wing Kawhi Leonard, the crew of Inside The NBA on TNT announced on Friday night.

Westbrook had one of the most impressive seasons in the past 55 years of league history, achieveing the unthinkable and surpassing former great Oscar Robertson with 42 triple-double outings to his name. The one-man army averaged an eye-popping 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists, with 1.6 steals per game to boot.

His 30.7 efficiency rating is indicative of just how influential his play was in the Thunder's 47-35 season, averaging a triple-double for the season in only 34.6 minutes per game —nearly 10 minutes less than the Big O's 44.3 logged per game during the 1961-62 season.

Harden would have been the runaway MVP any other season, posting career-highs in scoring (29.2 PPG) and even leading the league in assists (11.2 APG) thanks to the arrival of coaching offensive genius Mike D'Antoni.

The Beard posted 22 triple-doubles, nine more than the next, in a tantalizing season that saw the Rockets improve their win total by 14 wins and secure the third seed in the West with ease.

Leonard took a major step up this season, becoming his team's unequivocal go-to player at both ends of the floor. The versatile wing was equally impressive defensively as he was with his new-found offensive prowess, recording career-highs in scoring (25.5 PPG) and assists (3.5 APG), while shooting a career-high 88 percent from the stripe.

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The Klaw was outstanding through his 74 games played this season, leading the Spurs to yet another 60-win season, sitting only six wins behind the league-leading Golden State Warriors with 61.

Perhaps the biggest name missing from this list is LeBron James, who has always been among the top five choices for the MVP in the past decade. James' shot at an MVP finalist nod went south with the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ struggles at the end of the season, managing only 51 wins despite making numerous additions to the team throughout the 82-game campaign.