I cannot in good consciousness let you, the reader, skim through the next two paragraphs of this article without telling you that it should be read like “The People’s Court.” You know, with the deep voiced narrator and the hard hitting jazzy theme song? Yeah read it like that, and you’ll understand it a little better. Okay, spiel over, now let’s go live into the courtroom. (Cue music).
This is the plaintiff, James Harden. He says, that he deserves the honor of the NBA’s most valuable player, and that his rival Russell Westbrook only gets all those triple-doubles because his teammates let him. Harden, meanwhile claims that he works for all those triple doubles, along with all the points and contributions to the Rockets’ success. Now he’s taking things from courtside to the courtroom.
This is the defendant, Russell Westbrook. He says, his name and brand is the most recognizable in basketball this year, so his value to the league itself should give him MVP. His amassing of more triple-doubles than Oscar Robertson, he says, is just because he’s the better baller, and has nothing to do with his teammates padding his stats. Sure the team hasn’t been the same since Kevin Durant left, but forget that guy, it’s Westbrook’s world and we’re all just living in it. He’s accused of being MVP: Manipulative, Vain and Preposterous.
Okay, now that the people’s court portion of this column has ended, let’s get into the meat of why James Harden has every right to be furious if he does not win MVP honors this year.
First and foremost, Westbrook has apparently given his teammates an ultimatum: let me–Westbrook–get as many triple-doubles as I can, or you can find yourself out of the job. The Thunder used to take pride in having the one-two punch combo in Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. And for a time, James Harden was even a member of the Thunder. Can you imagine that combination now, with all three players in their prime? It would be unstoppable.
Getting back to Westbrook, for whatever reason his teammates have allowed him to garner the most triple-doubles in NBA history, because they let him. There is video evidence that showcases Thunder players getting out of the way for Westbrook so he can get to the rim and get rebounds, or moving out of the way for him to get credit for an assist.
Westbrook only got all those triple-doubles, of which he is now famous for, because he either has really supportive teammates, or he threatened them.
Harden, meanwhile, has garnered several triple-doubles, though certainly not as many as Westbrook, but he didn’t need his teammates to pad his stats for him. The result has been allowing the Rockets to compete as a team, and not just one super star player with a bunch of guys too scared to go against the wishes of their co-worker.
Harden and the Rockets have been the better team, and it shows. The Thunder don’t have nearly the same team dynamic as they did in years past, and were in the national conversation for being possibly not able to compete with the upper half of the Western Conference.
Houston meanwhile, they have it on lockdown. Being the three seed in the West, with Harden having better shooting, three-pointers and wins than Westbrook, I could see a very strong case for James Harden being the league’s best.
Basketball is not an individual sport like golf, or tennis, or bowling. Basketball is a team sport and the better team player is James Harden. If the MVP voters remember what the sport of basketball is and what it isn’t, Harden should really be the MVP. But then again, this is the NBA we’re talking about, so don’t be surprised if the league goes for the flashiness of Westbrook, than the reliability of Harden.
