James Harden last won the NBA MVP in 2018 when he was suiting up for the Houston Rockets. However, his chances of replicating such success has been slowed down by the NBA's new foul-baiting rules.
Expectations were high on Harden to compete for MVP. After all, with Kyrie Irving still refusing to get vaccinated and the Nets preventing him to play, The Beard has as much chance as his teammate Kevin Durant to be in contention for the highest individual award in the NBA.
Nonetheless, with the new alterations to the rules in foul baiting, Harden has failed to adjust yet because of his play style of racking up free throw attempts every game. The drastic drop-off in his free throw production is clearly a reason for his abysmal performance in the first six games for the Nets.
Harden found his rejuvenated self in their Friday night game against the Indiana Pacers by tallying 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. More importantly, he converted 16 free throws from his 19 attempts. As he continues to find his rhythm early in the season, Harden could still possibly elevate himself as one of the individuals in the MVP conversation. Additionally, Brooklyn will likely finish as a top two seed in the Eastern Conference, which should give Harden some case for the recognition.
open season on mauling James Harden right now. https://t.co/CEJphfgNa2
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 30, 2021
Does James Harden win MVP without new rules?
Even if James Harden adjusts to the new rules on drawing fouls, the main question is if Harden will win MVP had the league decided to stick it out with the old rules. With the stacked amount of candidates that are eager to win the MVP award, it will be difficult for him to win it this year.
As Durant is on the same team as him, the voters could easily split their votes if the Nets top the Eastern Conference this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry are some of the leading candidates in the MVP race because of their phenomenal performances to begin the season.
Curry is currently averaging 30.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game–all on top of a whopping five triples made. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo is recording 27.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.0 blocks per contest. Moreover, their organizations are also more than capable of finishing at the top four seed in their respective conferences compared to other possible candidates like Ja Morant or Karl Anthony-Towns.
Curry and Antetokounmpo are the obvious No. 1 options on their teams, while James Harden is sharing the responsibilities with Kevin Durant and possibly Irving if he decides to get vaccinated soon.
Harden will need to have a consistent season wherein he has eye-popping numbers while tallying new records in the scoring or assists department. If the voters are able to be swayed with Harden's impeccable streak of successive games, this will be an insurmountable reason for him to win the award.
James Harden has 21 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, and shot 10-of-11 FT in the first half!
He attempted a total of 15 FTS over his last 5 gamespic.twitter.com/mqyQxVktfn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 30, 2021
Even with the foul-baiting rules adjusted, he is still likely to come out short in being a strong candidate for MVP. The stats and victories will be present for Harden and the Nets, but the MVP award will be won by another superstar.
With Harden sustaining hamstring injuries last season, Brooklyn will also be cautious of minor injuries, which may cause him to miss games in several junctures of the season. The Nets could also opt to rest him because of the firepower and depth of the team.
As Harden is not expected to win MVP this season, the more important aspect of his campaign is capturing his first ever NBA championship. That goal is highly achievable if the Nets continue being healthy and James Harden and Kevin Durant start pouring in 25-30 points or more per night.
Follow Us
Subscribe