That one play should not have been the deciding factor on an entire season. You know that’s not fair. I posted the graph on who did the most with their minutes combining offense and defense. Harden was the runaway leader.
Huh? For voters who think it’s a close race and were still on the fence, it very easily could have been. Do you deny such voters existed? That kind of stuff makes a difference. We saw that firsthand two seasons ago, when Westbrook took the lead because of a series of clutch performances towards the end of the season that were hyped up by the media and that elevated OKC’s seeding.
What do you mean huh? The writers had their minds made up before that game and you know this. Would it have helped if he had hit it? Maybe, maybe not. Would it have been more ammo in our eyes? Sure. I didn’t need one play to tell me that Harden deserves the MVP, nor should have anyone else.
Shouldn't the Most Valuable Player actually play a lot of minutes? If Giannis wins, his 2,358 minutes would be the lowest for a non-lockout season MVP since Bill Walton in 1978. For this season... Total minutes played: Harden #2, Giannis #47 Minutes per game: Harden #3, Giannis #37 I get that minutes played shouldn't be the prime criterion, but if we're looking at THESE TWO PLAYERS, Harden was on the court more for one reason: his team needed him more. He was the more valuable of the two. Add his historic numbers and this is clear cut to me. As many have said, put those stats next to LeBron's name and he wins going away, even with a #4 seed. That said, Giannis probably wins because too many voters simply hate Harden.
Well, alright then. He would have gotten at least a few more votes. Enough to win the MVP? Maybe, though probably not. Whether it *should* have made a difference is not the point I was making.
You can question "just how valuable are you?" if you are winning games and not playing as many minutes. I haven't seen anyone actually raise this question which is baffling.
Exactly. There are too many anti-Harden voters, and nothing would change their minds. Years from now, when Harden's historic season is still being discussed, a Giannis MVP would be looked at the same way we now look at Michael Carter-Williams winning Rookie of the Year in 2014.
There is nothing memorable about the season Giannis had. Maybe the last game against Philly. MAYBE. Other than that, what?? I hope James knows he’s not going to win. I want this team to run through the field to a title so they can shut everyone up. I’m tired of the hate, it makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Agreed. I think most people had made up their minds long before this. You had 3 types of voters as of 2 weeks ago imo: Firmly in the Harden camp Firmly in the Giannis camp Undecided (code for leaning Giannis but will wait to see what the herd does so I don't look stupid)
A Reddit user has a spreadsheet tracking all the official voters who have announced their intended MVP vote so far. I don't know the guy and can't vouch for the accuracy or completeness, but so far it's as dreadful as I imagined it would be.
My gut tells me that shot would have made a difference. It is splitting hairs at this point, and a dramatic shot to secure the 2 seed ( winning ) and add a moment. Think it was important. Think several voters have publicly said they had not made their mind up yet, and a lot of that is to save face with some b.s., but I do think there are voters who needed a reason to decide, they ride a wave of momentum, and Harden did not deliver, when he certainly could have. All that said, nobody would have been chatting it up on Monday anyway because of Magic. And we would then need to blame it on that, which would have been legitimate. Magic could have cost Harden the MVP if everything had gone right, when it went so wrong.
In the 3 out of 4 seasons in which Harden finished top 2 in the MVP race, he will have finished 2nd to players averaging the least minutes per game of any MVP winner ever, and 2nd to a player who's team won less games than any prior winner in the last 40 years.
