[Player's Tribune] Ariza: Bearded Picasso is the League's MVP

zeeshan2 · Apr 14, 2017

Im here to try to convince the entire basketball world that James Harden is this year’s MVP.

But before I get started, if it’s cool with you, I want to just address Houston Rockets fans for a second.

What’s up, Red Nation? It’s playoff time again, and I want to do some reminiscing.

Remember last year around this time?

We’d just finished the season 41–41. It had been a rocky year — with two different coaches and some ups and downs. We barely snuck into the playoffs as the 8 seed, then lost in the first round.

It wasn’t the type of season we’d hoped for after the year before, when we went to the Western Conference finals. Remember?

I know you remember. And we do, too — because the off-season came early last year, which gave us a lot of time to think … and to listen.

People were saying lots of things about our team: I’m sure a lot of you heard the narratives that started to form last summer about the Rockets?

First Coach D’Antoni came on, and people were critical. They questioned whether our roster was a good fit for his up-tempo style.

Then Dwight left, and people were saying we were destined for a few bad years.

We picked up Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson — and people wondered how guys who hadn’t really found their grooves for other teams were going to help us get to where we wanted to go.

Remember that narrative — the one about how we should probably just blow everything up and start over?

Houston, you know what I’m talking about. And I know you all hated to hear it.

It wasn’t fun for us to have to listen to, either. Critics will be critics. But one thing I can’t shake is how people wrote us off even before we got to training camp. As early as last summer, the consensus was that we would finish somewhere in the neighborhood of 41–41, 42–40 or 40–42 — just like the previous year.

And playoffs? I think people thought that if we made the playoffs, we weren’t going to make it out of the first round.

We had a different plan. Or, not really we.

James Harden had a plan.

O.K., apologies for that detour.

I’m supposed to be talking about the MVP race. My original plan was to talk about stats, and to tell you why James Harden’s numbers are more impressive than the stats put up by LeBron, Russ, Kawhi … and blah, blah, blah.

But I’ll let the numbers people do all of that. I’m not a big stats guy.

If stats alone were the clincher in the MVP conversation, Russ’s year of super-duper triple doubles would probably get him the award. I love Russ — he’s like my li’l bro. And what he’s doing this year is some phenomenal s***, no doubt.

You could also argue that Kawhi’s stats, on both ends of the court, are MVP-worthy. And LeBron’s stats this year — his stats every year for the last decade — are absolutely MVP-worthy.

But numbers aren’t the whole story with James. Problem is, even though I know James really well, it’s very difficult to put his game into words. It’s hard to describe the profound way James Harden changes the game of basketball when he’s on the court. It’s not easy to capture the way he can see two or three steps ahead of everyone else. James is unlike any player I’ve ever played with.

I know James can be hard for most people to read, with his beard and his facial expressions on the court. He has his own swagger — he’s not copying anybody, and he doesn’t really remind you of anyone, past or present. He’s got a slow, quick style. He’s a huge three-point threat, but he’s even more deadly going to the basket. He led the league in assists this year, but he’s also without question the best guy in the NBA at getting to the line. James doesn’t just make all of his teammates better, he also makes the game easy for us. Whether it’s me or Eric or or Ryan or Lou, we’re all just so open all the time. It’s no coincidence we just set the single-season record for most threes by a team in NBA history.

To me, James Harden is like basketball’s Picasso — he’s an artist whose work you respect, even if you don’t always understand its significance until later. (Or maybe Van Gogh or some other artist — I’m not an art history buff, but you get my point.)

So I’m asking you to think outside the box — just like James does when he’s playing basketball.

To really explain why James Harden is the true MVP, I have to tell you about his game with a story.

To do that, we have to go back to last summer — to when all those negative narratives about the Rockets were going around. That’s the best way I can put into perspective how unbelievable James’s season has been.

After Coach D’Antoni was hired, one of the first things he did was set up a meeting with James. In their first meeting — franchise player and new coach — Coach asked James something that probably sounded … insane. And I realize that everyone might know the story by now, but just take a second to consider how crazy Coach D’Antoni’s first order of business was.

He asked James to move to the point guard position.

You have to understand how bold Coach’s request was: a new coach, asking one of this generation’s best pure scorers — a 6′ 5″, 220-pound lefty who had never played point.

I mean, look: James Harden had just come off a season when he had averaged 29 points … and now Coach D’Antoni wanted him to … accept a role that would mean fewer scoring chances? How does that not sound like a demotion?
Click to expand...

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/trevor-ariza-james-harden-nba-mvp-2017/

ISOBall · Apr 14, 2017

Ariza on CF confirmed

Amel · Apr 14, 2017

Ariza is underappreciated by this board

HookemHorns1250 · Apr 14, 2017

Obvioisly Ariza can be frustrating at times... but there's no doubt whether he'll give it his all or not.

Love... him saying this about James and about the team. This team is ready to give it everything it has, and it should be fun to watch.

JayGoogle · Apr 14, 2017

This one actually does deserve its own thread since it is Ariza.

Deuce · Apr 14, 2017

Trevor better retire a Rocket. Wow.

RocketsFido · Apr 14, 2017

One of the best reads all year along with this article by Bill Simmons:

https://theringer.com/bill-simmons-...-russell-westbrook-kawhi-leonard-4f617e8d5df5

split41 · Apr 14, 2017

Ariza bleeding red in this article, good read.

Deuce · Apr 14, 2017

Just blown away by this article. Just wow

Reeko · Apr 14, 2017

wow, what a beautiful article by Ariza

PyroTex · Apr 14, 2017

Man, I got the shivers. I really, REALLY, think we can do it, go All The Way, I wanted it but Now, I Believe. The Heart of a Champion. The Eye of the Tiger. Sheit, I think I'm gonna cry

oogie boogie · Apr 14, 2017

Lot of talk. Damn it. Not even trying to be negative. It's lot of talk and I really hope they play as good as they imply they will. Good read. I'm very hopeful but damn, man.

JayGoogle · Apr 14, 2017

oogie boogie said: ↑

Lot of talk. Damn it. Not even trying to be negative. It's lot of talk and I really hope they play as good as they imply they will. Good read. I'm very hopeful but damn, man.
Click to expand...

Yeah, loved the article but someone tell Trevor we haven't made it past the first round just quite yet.

Daddy Long Legs · Apr 14, 2017

JayGoogle said: ↑

Yeah, loved the article but someone tell Trevor we haven't made it past the first round just quite yet.
Click to expand...

This team will back it up

DreamShook · Apr 14, 2017

Like I said in another thread: I think Players like Ariza and Bev are the ones that will take more offense to Harden not winning MVP. Maybe more than Harden himself.

Fantasma Negro · Apr 14, 2017

I like to say that James is not just unbelievably consistent, which he is. But he’s also consistently unbelievable, especially in big games.- Trevor Ariza
Click to expand...

Vivi · Apr 14, 2017

Great find @zeeshan2

Os Trigonum · Apr 14, 2017

zeeshan2 said: ↑

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/trevor-ariza-james-harden-nba-mvp-2017/
Click to expand...

MEDIA CONSPIRACY

Snow Villiers · Apr 14, 2017

Os Trigonum · Apr 14, 2017

seriously though, that was a beautiful read. thanks for posting that OP

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[Player's Tribune] Ariza: Bearded Picasso is the League's MVP

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[Player's Tribune] Ariza: Bearded Picasso is the League's MVP

zeeshan2 Member

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JayGoogle Member

Deuce Context & Nuance

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Deuce Context & Nuance

Reeko Member

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oogie boogie Member

JayGoogle Member

Daddy Long Legs H- Town Harden

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