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The 16-17 MVP Race

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Who is the MVP of the season so far?

  • James Harden

    Votes: 17 16.5%
  • Russell Westbrook

    Votes: 33 32.0%
  • LeBron James

    Votes: 46 44.7%
  • Kevin Durant

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Kawhi Leonard

    Votes: 4 3.9%
  • Other (specify in thread)

    Votes: 2 1.9%

  • Total voters
    103
You don't need to make silly arguments against the other candidates in order to prop up LeBron. LeBron is impressive enough as is.
 
1. Harden doesn't play basketball the right way. Take away all his gift free throws, and his numbers look less impressive.
2. Westbrook stat-pads, to the detriment of his team.

3. LeBron is a god, and the leader of the best team in the East, shifting more towards a facilitator role.
4. Durant is a chump. Take him away, and the Warriors still win 65 games.
5. Kawhi is good, but he's not LeBron.

Answer: #3.
Lol, I take it you haven't watched much Houston or OKC this year? Harden has undoubtedly been the best point guard in the NBA. He is like watching a prime Steve Nash who doubles as a top-5 scoring guard in the NBA.

Sure, Westbrook - to some degree - stat pads... But that's a bit oversold. The Thunder are a well-below .500 with him off the court, and well-above .500 with him playing. Who do you want rebounding and pushing the ball in transition if not Russ? Steven Adams? Enes Kanter? Those guys can't pass like Love can, so if they have to pass the ball to Westbrook after the rebound, OKC's transition offense does not work.

Yeah, Westbrook does shoot too much. But the Thunder aren't just running Westbrook-ISOs... A lot of what happens is OKC will run a play, the play will be stopped because of Roberson's slow shooting, mental mistake by a guard, Adams/Kanter not finding a good shot, etc., and then the second option after the play breaks down is Westbrook isolating.

As @D-Wreck said, don't make silly arguments to justify LeBron winning the MVP. I give each of those guys a 30% chance to win it right now, and that extra 10% spreads over four other guys. Is LeBron the best player in the NBA? In a vacuum, yes. But he, Harden, and Westbrook are all having elite seasons in different ways. Just sit down and enjoy it.
 
If LeBron maintains his career high in assists, gets near 8 boards, and stays just above 25 ppg, he's got a solid as hell shot. I'm really rooting for #5.

We will likely win the East and end up 2nd or 3rd overall in the standings. So we have that. We are winning the narrative battle after last year's finals unless we get shit-stomped by other contenders (praying for a good Christmas).

But right now Harden is balling out and deserves the trophy. I think if Houston steals the second seed OR takes the 3rd seed with a better record than us, it's hard to argue against him. His team is contending when they fucking shouldn't and he's the reason. That's MVP. Russ is playing out of his mind but his team isn't good enough to lift him. 7th seed? Nah. Leonard has a shot but MVP tends to favor the offensive end and he doesn't stack up next to LeBron or Harden value-wise on that end.

Curry is not playing well enough period. He's on my fantasy team so I am an authority on the matter. Durant still has too much bitch-stink to get it IMO but the numbers are there.
 
Durant still has too much bitch-stink to get it IMO but the numbers are there.
He certainly has the numbers, but to vote for Kevin Durant for MVP would be literally blatantly ignoring what the acronym is. Replace him with Barnes and Bogut and... well, we all saw last year.

Replace James, Harden, or Russ with Barnes and Bogut, and... well.... lol
 
Durants numbers arent good enough for the team hes on. "Where would the Warriors be if not for Kevin Durant?" Ugh, the favorites in the West with a guy who was MVP the last two years. Theres also the nagging question in the back of your mind wondering if Durant is the best player on his own team. Curry is deferring to Durant, but is that because Durant is better or because Curry can do that, play off the ball, and durant cant?
 
Just like after one season most people forgave LeBron for going to Miami (except us Cleveland fans), I feel Durant ends up winning it next year, but for this year, no way they forgive him.

As for Harden stat stuffing? Are you serious, he right now is the MVP if the Rockets continue to win.

Westbrook doesnt have OKC as a contender, so hard to say he is a contender.

Lebron is sitting at number 2 imo, but if Houston drops below a top 4 seed, then the award is his.
 
Just like after one season most people forgave LeBron for going to Miami (except us Cleveland fans), I feel Durant ends up winning it next year, but for this year, no way they forgive him.

As for Harden stat stuffing? Are you serious, he right now is the MVP if the Rockets continue to win.

Westbrook doesnt have OKC as a contender, so hard to say he is a contender.

Lebron is sitting at number 2 imo, but if Houston drops below a top 4 seed, then the award is his.
It's not even about forgiveness

I've yet to see a reasonable argument that Kevin Durant is he most valuable player in the league.

Like Rich said even without him they're the favorites in the west

He will never be the most valuable player whether or not he unjustly wins the award.

To name anyone on GSW the MVP going forward is to just completely ignore the meaning of the award
 
It's not even about forgiveness

I've yet to see a reasonable argument that Kevin Durant is he most valuable player in the league.

Like Rich said even without him they're the favorites in the west

He will never be the most valuable player whether or not he unjustly wins the award.

The award goes to the person with the best stats on a top 3/4 team in the conference.

This will be the case for him, but come next year the voters will forget about the move.

Personally I agree with you, i was referring to the voters.
 
The award goes to the person with the best stats on a top 3/4 team in the conference.

This will be the case for him, but come next year the voters will forget about the move.

Personally I agree with you, i was referring to the voters.
Historically yes, but there has been no precedent for what just happened.

A top 5 NBA Player just went to a 73 win team. I just can't see how he could ever win the award. I'd be disappointed beyond belief.

I think it's different than the Heatles for a few reasons:

1. The Warriors are championship contenders without Durant. I don't think that is true of the Heat without LeBron

2. It was never arguable (besides maybe one series against the Mavs) that LeBron was the best player on the Heat. I think it's extremely arguable that Curry is better than Durant
 
Historically yes, but there has been no precedent for what just happened.

A top 5 NBA Player just went to a 73 win team. I just can't see how he could ever win the award. I'd be disappointed beyond belief.

I think it's different than the Heatles for a few reasons:

1. The Warriors are championship contenders without Durant. I don't think that is true of the Heat without LeBron

2. It was never arguable (besides maybe one series against the Mavs) that LeBron was the best player on the Heat. I think it's extremely arguable that Curry is better than Durant

Honestly I hope you are right, but my prediction is he wins it next year.
 

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