[Grantland] Listen to Your Heart: James Harden Is the MVP

Why are people bashing Andrew Sharp? He's saying that Harden deserves the MVP, isn't he?

[rquoter]Curry and the loaded Warriors have been incredible at the top of the West, but Harden dragging this Rockets team to second place is more impressive. I don’t understand how anyone can pretend otherwise. It’s one thing to accept that Steph Curry will win MVP. But we all know Harden deserves it, right?[/rquoter]

 

i wish i didn't see it almost exactly like sharp does

but i do

 

I can not agree more on this.

 

This article has summed up my thoughts for the last month or so. Harden is the most valuable player. Curry will win because of his likability with the media.

 

They only read the quotes that the OP lifted from the article and are outraged. Out of context, those quotes are pretty annoying. I was suckered into annoyance until I read the full article.

Author point out some pretty incredible stuff sports pundits don't even mention. A season that has only been accomplished by Jordan, Bird and Lebron being one.

 

But even the two quotes by the OP are complimentary towards Harden. Of course, he's not totally one-sided in his discussion of Harden's MVP candidacy. Perhaps that's enough to annoy people here.

 

• Harden won't be the scoring champ
• Harden won't be the MVP
• The Rockets won't get out of the first round
• Championship

/anti-jinx

HTOWN! Chef BEARD-ee will be cooking!

 

Personally, all of this is getting really annoying. Can we just win a ring this year? That's all I care about. If not a ring, let's make some big time noise in the playoffs. Haters will always have something to say, so let's give them MFers something to talk about.

 

He expresses both views quite well minus the fact that he attacks Harden's game while boasting Curry's and then uses his "heart" portion to defend Harden's game.

Curry isn't playing out of his freaking mind right now. Curry is playing like the above-average, elite tier point guard that he has played at for almost 3 seasons now. The only difference? Warriors are winning now due to their recent upgrades and suddenly the media wants to highlight any little thing they can and create the narrative that Curry is playing the best basketball right now...when he isn't doing anything different except for possibly shooting better percentages.

 

that's the point of the article, his addition of the biases used in arguments towards them is part of the literary structure.

 

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I find it weird that Grantland articles never have comment sections.

I get that probably 50-75% of the people posting would be trolls (pro-Harden article would have anti-Harden posters), but there should be a place to gripe about what a job the author is doing in the article (good or bad).

 

Are you serious? The article reads as one long backhanded compliment. Calling a player an embarrassment to the game of basketball doesn't equal being fair and balanced.

I don't understand why some here get off on defending pundits who outwardly hate the team they purport to be fans of. This doesn't make you unbiased. It makes you a chump.

 

I just find the article to be unfair. He never knocks on Curry on reinforces his stance in the MVP. In the meantime, he attacks Harden and brings him down only to make a contradictory statement that pretty much negates some, but not all, of the damage he causes with the statements.

Essentially...he makes Curry +1 and Harden -1+1=0.

Grantland bias continues!

 

I thought it was a decently written and realistic article, very accurate IMO. When he's saying Harden flops, what his point is is that that's what people think when they watch him, and I've found that to be true among non-Rockets fans.

 

honestly i dont feel offended by the article, i think a lot of it its true, at least in people's perception of what Harden does. His "head" reasoning might be what most people outside of Houston are thinking yet at the same time his "heart" reasoning is very likely what most people feel as well. In the end the argument is that this is a popularity contest more than anything else.

He makes an assumption which as he says, we will never be able to prove, but that hypothetically is very possible, and that is that if they switched teams GSW would still be #1 in the west with Harden, but its likely that with Curry on the Rockets we would probably be fighting for that 8th seed and not in second place. What would happen to GSW if we took Curry out and brought Westbrook in? probably first place as well right? What about Paul? probably the same thing as well!! This says it all, Harden is definitively the most valuable player for his team, without him there is no doubt whatsoever that the Rox wouldnt be where they are now.

 

That is because most non-Rockets fans don't watch the Rockets and will only believe what they hear through the media (ESPN, Comments on Bleacher Report, haters, etc.) It is the EXACT same thing when it comes to Harden's defense though we Rockets fans know that Harden shouldn't be shi* on for his defense this year..As a matter of fact, didn't he have a clutch block on a three point shooter a game or two ago?

 

It's the general reluctance of it that most have issues with. Most Houston fans anyway. The media angle is essentially this:

Rockets are a cold, calculating, annoying franchise run by a cold, calculating, immature GM who believes he is smarter than you at all times. Their star is a manipulating, calculating, borderline-cheating player who has a unique set of skills designed to game the system and make games unwatchable even if it translates to W's. They promote their players incessantly on social media and through cheap ploys all the while still employing two known locker room cancers (Smith and Howard) who have been on their best behavior since getting here but we all know that they're set to blow at any minute. Also a member of this team is the defensive pest who injures people on purpose.

The Warriors employ the most electrifying, glorious and watchable star since MJ, Bird and Magic Johnson fused together to form a Basketball Megazord in the late 80's. He doesn't need to lead the league in any major category or single handedly carry the team to the playoffs to be considered the best player in basketball because reasons. Their coach is attractive, sharp and not at all egotistical. A hero in his own right who rid the franchise of the stench left by the previous coach. They also have the best 2 way player in the league by most (unknown) measures along with a shoe-in defensive of the year candidate who also is likeable, doesn't run his mouth, and is an example for the amazing turn around we can all have within ourselves.

 

I love the teleological conclusion of Harden's free throws by so many so called educated writers and journalists.

"Derp A LOT of free throws derp flopper derp."

Nah, there could't be any other explanation for his fta's.

 

His broad points are reasonable enough, but they're wrapped up in that smug "Harden/Morey/Rockets are bad for the NBA" trolling that Grantland pushes whenever they talk about the team. It's just obnoxious.