And then, there were two.
It all comes down to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook and Houston Rockets guard James Harden for the Most Valuable Player award. The two players have had very comparable stats all season along with similar reviews from figureheads throughout the league, but now it's all coming down to the final few matchups.
What does taking a look at the numbers for both Western Conference competitors show us? Westbrook is leading the league in points per game, he is third in assists per night and tenth in rebounds. Harden, on the other hand, is first in assists, second in points and tied at 21 on the boards. The major headline encircling the Thunder's point guard is the exciting news that he just tied legend Oscar Robertson’s NBA record for most triple-doubles in a single season with 41, and is expected to surpass it. Robertson failed to secure MVP that season; so triple-doubles, while very impressive, are just a number — you simply can't base the entire award on that.
Harden’s dream season, on the other hand, has his Rockets locked into the three seed in the Western Conference. The same Rockets bunch that entered the holidays as +3,500 NBA championship futures underdogs are now sitting at +1,500 in just a matter of months. That shift is thanks in large part to Harden’s determination. He has carried his team to the postseason while playing a new position, and that’s why he is +250 according to TopBet.eu to take home the MVP trophy. Likewise, Westbrook, without Kevin Durant, has put the Thunder on his back and is now the -350 MVP favorite because of it.
Some have their favorites in mind, but how do you gauge this race and how do you pick a winner? Watching how the final regular season games play out is certainly in order.
Simply devaluing the award by saying it’s a two-way tie would be convenient, but a cop-out. In fact, the race is so close that legend Kobe Bryant even suggested considering a co-MVP to settle the case, and others have agreed
In no particular order, but most notably, Westbrook still has dates with Ricky Rubio, Jamal Murray, and Tyler Ulis, while Harden meets Rubio and Chris Paul. At this point in the season, teams will begin resting some of their top stars each night in preparation for the postseason.
This race is truly cut right down the middle, there’s no other way to put it. The biggest irony in this entire race is the fact that these two played on the same team and advanced to the NBA Finals together. Once upon a time… what could have been.
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