Russell Westbrook beats out James Harden for 2016-17 NBA MVP

Has to play more minutes and averages more rebounds, assists, and steals, better on defense, much better athlete, killer instinct, ultimate competitor, former MVP, and averaged a triple double for one season for the second time in league history. Career FG% is just less than 1% below Harden's as well.

Is Westbrook perfect? No, he isn't that efficient and gambles on defense a lot. A year older than Harden at 29. Also, not a great 3 pt shooter. Is he a winner? I guess time will tell, I just love the way he plays the game.

 

even if all of that were true, which they aren't

a team led by harden finishes the regular season better than a team led by westbrook. a team led by harden then eliminates the actual team led by westbrook. i dont get the westbrook is better than harden angle here because there isn't one

 

Um nope, all of that actually is true, you can look it up!

I don't get your angle on "because the Rockets beat the Thunder in a series, Harden is better than Westbrook." Westbrook has beat a Harden team in the playoffs before and that doesn't mean Westbrook is better than Harden.

Admittedly, if Harden wins a ring this year or next, that might change things a bit...

 

when did okc w/ westbrook as their best player beat hou? never. the only time westbrook has been okc's best player was last year after kd left him. when they beat hou, it was kd who was their best player. so yeah you should understand that angle bc its not complicated

but then again you for some reason think westbrook is better than harden so you might not be all there

winning a ring or not doesn't really change anything. after harden wins mvp, all the evidence is there both individually and team wise that hes better than westbrook. he puts up the numbers and impacts actual winning more than wb.

 

Ouch, ad hominem argument, nice!

Yeah, still not getting that angle. Agreed, KD is a better player than Westbrook and Harden.

 

of course you won't get the angle bc it doesn't fit your agenda

 

-playing more minutes doesn’t make u a better player...not sure why u brought that up

-he averages more rebounds because he doesn’t contest shots so he can roam around the court while his bigs box out for him allowing him to rack up uncontested defensive boards...last year he led the league in uncontested rebounds per game at around 8.5 and had the lowest contested rebound percentage of any player in the NBA averaging at least 7 rpg...

Is Russ the better rebounder or the better statpadder?

-Russ averages more assists, but Harden is the better passer. Harden can make passes that Westbrook simply can not. Westbrook’s court vision and talent as a passer doesn’t even compare to Harden’s.

-Russ is typically not a good defender, he loses focus easily, and does not contest shots...their steal counts are practically the same, Russ leads him by a negligible margin for his career

-he’s a much better athlete, but Harden is much smarter and far more skilled...Harden’s game will age far better

-we all know Russ didn’t deserve MVP over Harden, and it’s been made abundantly clear this season...Russ doesn’t elevate his teammates while Harden does...OKC added Melo and Paul George while getting rid of “scrub Dipo” and they’re only on pace to finish 1 game better than they did last year which is laughable

-Why are u looking FG%? Harden’s TS% is at 62% this season and 61% for his career which is elite. Westbrook’s TS% is at 53% this year and 53% for his career which is below the league average of 55%. Harden’s eFG% is at 54% this year and 52% for his career while Russ is at 48% and 46% for his career. Harden is far better offensively and far more efficient. Russ is 1 of the most inefficient high usage players in the NBA. The only reason Westbrook’s FG% is even close to Harden’s is because Harden launches 10 threes a game at 37% which drags down his overall FG%. Speaking of 3 point shooting, out of 159 qualified 3-point shooters, Westbrook ranks 158th in percentage this season. If Westbrick launched as many threes as Harden his FG% would barely be 40%. If u look at 2 pointers, Harden shoots 53% on 2 pointers this year and 50% for his career while Russ is shooting 49% and 46% for his career. Russ is wildly inefficient, while Harden’s efficiency is elite.

-Russ has “killer instinct” yet it’s Harden who will lead a team to more wins and take teams further since he maximizes the talent around him. Do u think a foursome of Harden, PG, Melo, and Steven Adams would only be on pace for 48 wins? Hell no. U could add 10 more wins to that if u swapped Russ with Harden.

 

Simple fact, if Russ shoots less than 15 shots his team wins, above they lose. He knows this and doesn't give a ****. That my friend is not a winner or someone that makes his team better. He whines that he has no help last year, he gets all the help in the world this year and doesn't improve. It is blasphemous to mention him in the same sentence with Jordan regardless of how much of his apparel he wears.

Jordan had a winning drive. I have had too many losers tell me they were competitive when they were just being a dick. They still lost.

 

Playing more minutes typically drains you, and being a year older, that is important. Tells you what a great athlete he is.

Westbrook is not as efficient as Harden, I've said that. And the true shooting percentages prove that. Not as good at the FT line or 3 pt line. His bread and butter is attacking the rim, which he does maybe better than anyone else.

Having their "super team" is OKC is not exactly working as planned. But, ask yourself the one team you don't want to face in the first round, and that would be OKC. And that's because of Westbrook. As a matter of fact, the Warriors are in trouble if they face them in the first round without Steph, and you know it.

Westbrook is, and has been, better on defense than Harden throughout their careers. Yes, Westbrook loses focus and cheats too much. But, don't make me pull up "Harden's defense" posts from this site from years past please... Too his credit, Harden has really picked up defensively this year. It's a big part of the reason we have 60 wins for sure.

I'm sorry but Westbrook's killer instinct and competitive drive can't be ignored. Could you imagine if Harden had that sort of tenacity in his game consistently!? Absolutely unstoppable. Remember when we tried to get that out of Yao? You either have it or you don't. Durant too, he publicly admitted he was just a follower. Westbrook plays basketball like his life is on the line, and I respect the hell out of it.

 

Harden is better then Westi. Pretty much every sane individual with a minuscule amount of basketball knowledge knows that.

 

I disagree

 

Good for you it’s a free country

 

Driving stats....

This year Harden is at 17 per game and Westbrook is at 19 per game.

Harden has a higher shooting percentage, a lower turnover percentage and no one produces more points on drives than Harden.

Not much changes if you look at last years stats. Westbrook drives slightly more but Harden finishes better, turns it over less and creates more points on drives.

So we can put the Westbrook is better at driving claim to bed.

Westbrook’s defense like his overall game is wildly over rated. Hardens low light video doesn’t change that. Career wise I’d say they are a wash.

 

so given a chance you would trade harden for westbrook in a heartbeat

 

westbrook makes nobody better. everyone who leaves okc thrives, harden included lol. harden is able to win more games with lesser supporting casts because he elevates his teammates, manufacturing open shots for them the entire time he's on the floor.

 

As I stated earlier, not with how this team is playing. I never expected the Paul Harden tandem to work like this. I'm not pulling the pitcher of a no-hitter in the 9th...

 

We don't fear Westbrook taking 30 shots and making 12 of them, we fear Steven Adams turning those 18 misses into 18 offensive rebounds.

If you replaced Westbrook with a better player like Damian Lillard, and Steven Adams with an equally worse player like Dwight Howard, nobody here would fear the Thunder.

 

-Harden’s mpg the last 6 seasons: 38.3, 38, 36.1, 38.1, 36.4, 35.5

-Westbrook’s mpg the last 6 seasons: 34.9, 30.7, 34.4, 34.4, 34.6, 36.2

No, that doesn’t tell me anything. Harden has had to play a lot more minutes than him since he’s been in Houston while not missing as many games as Russ has. Why are u acting like Russ is playing 40 mpg? Harden is a lesser athlete but has 3 seasons of at least 38 mpg while Westbrook’s career high in mpg is this year at 36.2...

Harden is a better driver and finisher than Westbrook is. Did u not see the driving clinic Harden put on the Blazers just a week ago? Westbrook isn’t close to being the best at attacking the rim, he is out of control far too often which affects his finishing ability.

Harden’s career FG% from 0-3 feet: 64%
Westbrook’s career FG% from 0-3 feet: 58%

Harden’s FG% from 0-3 feet last season and this season: 68% and 67%
Westbrook’s FG% from 0-3 feet last season and this season: 58% and 62%

Harden has excellent body control while Russ clearly does not, Harden also has a floater game to help him finish in the paint while Russ clearly does not

-lol, Houston is going for a title while OKC is stuck hoping to play spoiler in the 1st round...Rockets would wipe the floor with them in 5

-I can pull up clips of Westbrook’s garbage defense too





here he completely loses track of Curry



here he allows a Gary Harris game winner by completely falling asleep on the final possession lol



-Westbrook’s killer instinct and drive does not make him a better player than Harden. KD was a follower and still easily better than Westbrook and all his heart and passion. Westbrook plays like his life is on the line yet wishes he could get the same results and have the same impact out on the floor that Harden does.

 

or howbout because WB just plain sucks and not a winning bball player

what does it take for russ to get the same winning record as harden this year? what team needs to be built around him?

 

Haha, ok Westbrook does not suck, the hate is so thick is this forum is palpable. Lmao

Idk, maybe give him Karl Malone and Gary Payton?