The 16-17 MVP Race

[godfather]

1.) Westbrook
2.) Harden
3.) Kawhi
4.) LeBron
5.) No one else is close.

I know LB fourth is hard to swallow. But, unfortunately, I'm not a large factor on wins alone, but our sour second half IMO has to disqualify him compared to the others - whether fair or foul on his part.

He's played fantastic IMO, but what Kawhi has done with the Spurs (I never expected them to have such a great record with Duncan retiring), and the fact defensively he's having a better season than LB arguably, and offensively while not as good, still in the neighbor hood, is why I'm giving him the edge.

LeBron is clearly the best player though. I think all four are having MVP seasons, it's incredible this is all happening in the same season.

 

[mhi]

I'd go with Harden if I had a vote. He deserved it two years ago, and this year he deserves it again.

 

[K1rieIrving>AllOtherPG's]

Hardens the MVP imo, but Westbrook will get it because he averages 2 more rebounds

 

[Jstock12]

As I said previously, neither Harden nor Westbrook really deserve it over Kawhi who plays both sides of the court at the elite level. Harden is only a one-way player, and Westbrook is padding his stats with the insane usage and the way his bigs just let him get their own defensive boards. He's not a good defender either, although not Harden level bad.

That being said, history will forget about defense because it is not really reflected in stats that much. We know of the Oscar Robertson legendary triple-double seasons, but who ever talks about his defense? Yep.

Congratulations, Russell Westbrook. The 2016-2017 NBA MVP.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

As I said previously, neither Harden nor Westbrook really deserve it over Kawhi who plays both sides of the court at the elite level. Harden is only a one-way player, and Westbrook is padding his stats with the insane usage and the way his bigs just let him get their own defensive boards. He's not a good defender either, although not Harden level bad.

That being said, history will forget about defense because it is not really reflected in stats that much. We know of the Oscar Robertson legendary triple-double seasons, but who ever talks about his defense? Yep.

Congratulations, Russell Westbrook. The 2016-2017 NBA MVP.

The Spurs are literally better defensively when Kawhi is off the court than when he is on, but ok

 

[CHIMOCHIS]

The Spurs are literally better defensively when Kawhi is off the court than when he is on, but ok

Spurs are a team

Cavs are....


Damn you Spurs

 

[CHIMOCHIS]

Hardens the MVP imo, but Westbrook will get it because he averages 2 more rebounds

Westbrook will get it and lose in the first round

But he will average a triple double and people will say he had a great series with his 38%FG%

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

Spurs are a team

Cavs are....


Damn you Spurs

Right, but that's part of the reason I think people are getting carried away with the Kawhi love. He's in no way more valuable than LeBron or having a better statistical season. His team wins more games. That's it.

 

[Walter White]

Westbrook just locked up MVP today. Wow.

 

[Derek]

If you asked me a month ago, I would have thought Harden would take it fairly easily. What Westbrook has done down the stretch is nothing short of amazing. He had a great season, and has capped it off in fantastic fashion.

Give that man his MVP trophy.

Now, Presti, get to work on finding him a running mate, and some shooters.

 

[Real Deal]

I guess it's Russ's MVP, I was against him at 1st when they were at their worst stretch, but since that debacle at Washington he's regained his form and some.

I'm also a Cavs/LeBron homer, so I kept my belief during his best stretch.

Harden is playing the more wins card. But I gotta side with the best stat whore of them all, Russell Westbrook.

 

[Stark]

Stats: Westbrook
Importance to Team: LeBron
Team Leader / Wins Factor: Harden

Westbrook wins since he averaged a triple double and broke Oscar's record.

 

[czvo]

Westbrook comes from behind and takes it. I had Harden, but the close to the season made me change my mind.

One other thing to note: the Thunder are 33-9 when he gets a triple double. 13-25 when he doesn't. These aren't empty stats he's getting. They NEED him to do this.

That, to me, is what gives him the nod.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

These aren't empty stats he's getting. They NEED him to do this.

Nope, sorry gonna have to disagree with this. You see, Westbrook steals rebounds from his forwards for no reason and has a lower shooting percentage than Kevin Durant. For these reasons he is an empty stat padder and shouldn't even be in the discussion.

 

[HurricaneKid]

Nope, sorry gonna have to disagree with this. You see, Westbrook steals rebounds from his forwards for no reason and has a lower shooting percentage than Kevin Durant. For these reasons he is an empty stat padder and shouldn't even be in the discussion.

I know this is an unpopular opinion around here but this is pretty much a fact. Not only does he steal rebounds, he shirks his defensive responsibilities to do it.

* When his man shoots he is uncontested 75% of the time.
* Only Gobert and Whiteside have fewer 3 pt contests than RWB.
* His man shoots 6.5% above league avg (because he is leaving him to get rebounds). 3rd worst in the NBA is +4.2%.
* Coming into this season the highest DRBD% for a guard was JKidd getting 20.8% of available rebounds when he was playing with Krstic/Uncle Cliffy/Jason Collins (read: bad rebounders). Westbrook is getting 28.8% of rebounds. So he broke the record by ~40%. If you think that is organic you are crazy.

Its one thing if play dictates he is around the basket and can rush the ball down the court. Its another thing to not play defense in order to do it. Its also a pretty feeble excuse when you consider he is leading the NBA by >30% on rebounds off missed FTs. I don't mean leading all guards. I am talking about more rebounds off missed FTs than any big in the league. By >30%. Are you suggesting he is getting those boards to start fast breaks after missed FTs? I mean c'mon...

I used to love to watch him play. But he does about 100 things a game that would have me yelling at a middle school AAU player about. He has just been more and more overt about playing for the TD as the season progressed.

No player since the year after the merger has won an MVP without being a top 3 seed. We are throwing out the high premium placed on winning for the MVP because... he takes so many rebounds from his teammates? That's absurd.

I know he is going to win. But it also makes me feel good to see people around the game who know speaking out against it. Zach Lowe just posted his end of year awards and had him 3rd behind Kawhi and Harden.