Actually, you can. LeBron's stats would put him in the mix (Harden scores more, LBJ has a lot higher FG%, more rebounds, and more assists). But, the Rockets have done a lot better this year, and that is usually the measure. Ie, it isn't (and never has been) the best player, it has been the most valuable player, and for that to be true, team success becomes a big factor. That said, Kcuf ESPN. Never have liked the Rockets, or Harden. Harden winning MVP and Rockets winning the championship would be a big FU to the whole ESPN organization.
We can't all be Houston fans. Most people want a tight race. Plus, LeBron's game is easier to appreciate than Harden's since LeBron's dominance is equal parts skill and physical superiority. Harden will still win the award but it won't be unanimous unfortunately.
someone may have already answered this, but rachel nichols brought it up last year. flawed as it is, i'd rather stick with mvp voting. it basically captures the biggest storyline of a particular season and, from an overall historical perspective, has probably been better for the game than just jordan jordan jordan hakeem hakeem jordan jordan jordan...lebron lebron lebron lebron lebron. also, 2 awards just cheapens it and there doesn't seem to be much point to saying "lebron could be the best if he wanted to be, so here's an award." at least for regular season awards where lebron doesn't play defense and sometimes takes a month off from trying to get his teammates (deservedly) traded. i suppose in the new, more fractured entertainment world we don't really need a worldwide leader, but at least as far as television i don't feel i've seen a better alternative. maybe i've had to watch too many college football games on various fox sports networks over the years, but man did they make you appreciate the announcers and production values of an espn. i guess turner does a pretty good job with the nba, march madness, and what little of their baseball i watch, but inside the nba certainly doesn't astound with its erudition and nuance.
And now they're trying to justify why a 60 win team with the best record in the league has no chance to beat the Warriors. They even claimed that the Rockets lacked two way players (ummm, Trevor Ariza?), played to much one on one and that the team would be crushed and would not be able to recover if it lost to the Warriors this year. Stupid reasons.
Hey, thought you could use an FYI. Obviously, you still can. Politics in all its forms, except for the politics of professional and amateur basketball, baseball, football and the like, are only allowed to be discussed in the forum down towards the bottom of the forum list, D&D. Debate and Discussion. The Basement. That's where the ignorant, the confused, the mildly interested, and the political junkie can discuss politics and other controversial topics without fear of getting booted for doing the same in the GARM or the other basketball and other sports forums of ClutchFans. Just try to keep it civil. Trolls are discouraged and sometimes booted, so what you can post isn't unlimited. That's ClutchFans policy, not mine, although I support Clutch's policies in this regard at least 98.6%. So go down there to post this sort of crap, if you wish. That's where members such as myself, if we discover something of actual interest (unlikely, but you never know), might reply to members like you. Hope I could help! Go Rockets! Don't Get Cocky! Just kick everyone's ass who gets in our way from Here to Eternity!
Nah this is BS. Harden is Harden last year and LeBron is Westbrook. Westbrook then went on to have “big games” against 3 non playoff teams: Suns, Magic, and Nuggets that “put him over the top”. He got more “credit” for beating tanking teams than I’ve ever seen before in my life. It was fraudulent as hell at the time and we were on here calling a spade a spade when it was happening.
This was a terrible terrible segment. Both Truth and Fizdale were pushing against Rachel. She then had to step back and say Harden is her choice for MVP several times... Also, now she has done this in two different shows. The only reason she had the balls to pursue the same bs on this one is because Brian Windhorst agreed with her since he's one of LBJ's biggest fans.
