Is Harden not appreciated enough by media because of the way he plays?

Defend your position. Why do you say Harden is not appreciated by the media?

 

Vast majority of the "media" treat Harden favorably.

 

In all fairness he is the leading MVP candidate. I think the public's negative perception of Dwight's kind of rubbed off on Harden and the rockets as a whole. He was loved before Dwight got here, when D12 was injured and Harden carried us, the media heaped on the praise. The lack of wins last season gave people the fuel to give it to Harden.

Now that Harden has the wins and stats, everybody has to kind of shut up and appreciate what he is doing. He's starting to turn his image around.

People before would say that he only gets points for fouls etc. Now people are using terms like "crafty."

If he wins MVP this season, next season, if he continues what he's been doing his whole career at Houston, people will appreciate his greatness.

Westbrook has two things going for him: stat-factor (triple double average) and sympathy factor (KD left). That being said, MVP voters in the past have seen past these kind of things (see: Big O and Wilt losing MVP to Bill Russell)

I don't think there's a big media conspiracy this season, last year, obviously (how can he put up those numbers/carry us to the playoffs and not even make all-NBA 3rd team?). WB just has a better storyline this season, I think it's as simple as that.

 

Well in general we seem to live in a country where facts are trivial, so nothing really surprises me anymore. Anyone who has watched Harden EVERY game this season should have no doubt that he should be league MVP and should be FIRST TEAM ALL NBA. Period. Sadly though, it seems like no matter what ridiculous stat line he achieves or how many times he carries the Rockets to victory, he is continuously underrated and hated on nationally.

 

Pretty much every current mvp ranking has harden at #1 right now.

 

Shaq's Top 5
5. Russell Westbrook
4. Kevin Durant
3. Stephen Curry
2. Kawhi Leonard
1. LeBron James

Kenny
5. Russell Westbrook
4. Kawhi Leonard
3. Stephen Curry
2. Kevin Durant
1. LeBron James

Chuck
5. Kevin Durant
4. Russell Westbrook
3. James Harden
2. Kawhi Leonard
1. LeBron James

Ernie
5. Kevin Durant
4. Stephen Curry
3. Kawhi Leonard
2. Russell Westbrook
1. LeBron James

 

Those were pre-season, right?
If so, why not say so.

 

Anyone who isn't a Rockets fan probably would be turned off by the fact he relies heavily on drawing cheap fouls.