Harden's 37.5 minutes/game is very normal for MVP's. Giannis' 33.0 minutes/game is lower than any MVP's minutes in history, i.e. his winning would be unprecedented. So those media people, who are too indifferent to really look into history, can start talking about this historical pattern: "Never has a player with so few minutes won MVP. Never." I wish Morey could go tell everyone Giannis must be pretty damn exceptional if he is to become the lowest-minutes MVP in history.
Uh...is this sarcasm? Playing 33 a night while averaging what Giannis is averaging, can only help Giannis.
Let's not diminish what Giannis is doing. His efficiency is phenomenal. It just proves how historic this season has been for Harden. How many reigning MVP's have improved this much the next season. None. He's averaging 7 more points per game above the league leading average he had as an MVP while being just as efficient.
I believe the average mpg to qualify for MVP is at least 32. With all due respect, this argument is weak.
They should just have Harden play Giannis one-on-one during halftime of the Rockets-Bucks game to decide the MVP.
Better argument would be that Harden always plays the KEY minutes in a game. For example coming in to get buckets when other team goes on a run or to close out games. Giannis got other scorers to not worry about blowing leads and is too poor a FT shooter to be reliable in the clutch.
Actually MDA does not play Harden that much as MVP's go. Harden is right below middle of the pack for MVP minutes. Hakeem played 41.0. Even players like Bird played more, 3 MVP seasons. Shaq played 40.0. Other MVP's with Harden minutes (37.5): LBJ 2012, Magic 1989, Moses 1983.
