James Harden is gonna get screwed over again in MVP Voting

How much sway will Sunday’s Thunder-Rockets game have on the MVP race?

David Aldridge: Some, with some. To me it's one more piece of information. ... Every day, I change my mind (and, yes, that includes Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James as well).

Steve Aschburner: Not a lot. No one game should get undue weight when it comes to a season-long award. ... I’ve got four guys who will fill, in some order, the top four spots on my ballot (Harden, Westbrook, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard). The OKC-Houston game will toss more evidence on the pile but it hardly will be determinant.

Fran Blinebury: Unless James Harden or Russell Westbrook -- or both? -- goes off for 80, I don’t think one more game is going to make a difference in most minds. It’s coming down to whether Westbrook finishes up averaging a triple-double and where the Thunder end up in the West playoff pecking order. And there’s also that Kawhi Leonard fella. Doesn’t defense still count?

Scott Howard-Cooper: Maybe more than it should. ... That would be a bad conclusion, of course. To have a decision like that come down to one game would be too near-sighted even among the world that lives 140 characters at a time. I can’t believe anyone will reach a bottom line with several weeks to go in the season when the MVP race is this tight.

Shaun Powell: My answer is "very little." Even if Russell Westbrook or James Harden has a monster game, these performances have a seven-hour shelf life on talk radio and social media. Then the attention span shifts. If the other player goes nuts the following game, then that's another seven-hour life. It's a back-and-forth volley that won't end until the season's over and the voting begins. The race is that close in the minds of some (not mine; a triple-double or close enough should seal it for Russ no matter what Harden does).

John Schuhmann: One game should never have much influence on the MVP race, and I think a distinction between Harden and Westbrook is fairly easy to make. Harden is carrying a huge load for the league's second-ranked offense, while Westbrook is carrying a huge load for league's 17th-ranked offense. The last guy to average a triple-double? Oscar Robertson. The last guy to average 29 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists (Harden's numbers)? Oscar Robertson. Now, I just need these last three weeks to figure out if the MVP should be Harden or LeBron James.

Sekou Smith: A triple-double from either one of or even both of these guys won't really move the needle. Something truly outlandish would have to happen to shake things up, since they're both at the top of most (reasonable) people's list of the league's most valuable players this season. ... And for the record, averaging a triple-double for the season means more to me than Westbrook potentially catching Oscar Robertson for the NBA record for triple-doubles in a season (41). And I still don't know if that trumps what Harden has done for the Rockets all season behind his equally outlandish scoring and assists numbers that we haven't seen sine the days of Oscar. This race goes down to the wire!

Ian Thomsen: Little influence on me. The Rockets have come out of nowhere to earn the league's third-best record and it all revolves around Harden. Westbrook has been terrific, but Harden's team is achieving at a higher level.

Lang Whitaker: Very little, at least in regard to my MVP vote. If one game were the deciding factor, it doesn't pay much tribute to the other 81, and for some of these guys, perhaps especially Russell Westbrook, it's the sustained and repeated effort over the entire schedule that is the most remarkable part of their candidacy. It'll be fun to watch them square off, but I'm not going to let one game make up my mind.​

 

Protecting themselves from disapointment.

You see it all the time on this board. People be guarding themselves like crazy lol

 

How about Harden being only two rebounds away from averaging a triple double himself all while having his team in a better position to compete for a title????

 

Seems like they expect the Rockets to win lul

 

ESPN trying to jinx the Rockets for Westbrook. I see right through this sham.

 

This game is huge. They know it. We know it.

I'm terrified.

 

I'm terrified that the voters will over signify one game in a 82 game season when they vote for MVP.

There is a high probability that the Rockets win and Westbrook has slightly better numbers than Harden and will run that to the bank in their justification.

 

The espn ticker promoting this game is facking passing me off!!!

 

Ya, there are like 5 articles in a row about it on the front of their NBA section. It's just a bunch of pictures of Harden and Westbrook.

 

some Westbrook supporters are just immune to facts, literally all they care about is the triple double...efficiency, winning, and logic be damned

what makes it so hilarious is that if Westbrook was averaging 31, 10, and 9.5 then they wouldn't even have him in the conversation

 

Nah man, the ticker (watching wcq'ing) is promoting the game but it's just hyping the **** out of Russ and killing James. So one sided the tidbits of info and the way they are presenting it on the ticker.

 

If the Rockets win, the post-game narrative will be "Harden beats Westbrook! MVP race is gonna come down to the wire! How will Westbrook respond?!"

If the Thunder win, the post-game narrative will be "This MVP race is over! Westbrook is the MVP!"

And you're right, even if the Rockets win, if Westbrook has a strong performance, it'll just be "the Thunder teammates just didn't do enough for Westbrook!"

 

I like John Schuhmmann...conversely, I detest Marc Stein:

 

The media is salivating at the potential to call the race over. They want the Thunder to win this so bad. They NEED the Thunder to win this.

 

You know how this is going to go: Westbrook has zero support, proving his MVP worth. Another flawed argument that when a player wins with a bad supporting cast, for example best player is on the bench and they get blown out, it means he's doing it by himself. Harden is lifting the play of his team and MVP hands down.

 

media conspiracy, media conspiracy, MEDIA CONSPIRACY.

 

My stream im watching doesnt show the abc halftime crew. What are they saying?

 

Yeah, but there's another concern. JVG has called Harden out multiple time in the first half, for trying to initiate contact and draw fouls, and playing no defense. It was not a good look for Harden.

 

Jalen says Westbrook has the edge because of the triple double, but says that he thinks the last 10 games will determine it. Makes no sense. Both teams are solidified in the standings and both players are gonna finish with the same numbers. There is nothing that can happen in the last 10 games that will do anything.

 

ESPN reading ClutchFans, end of discussion.


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