Westbrook vs. Harden
The MVP race, for all intents and purposes, is down to James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Yes, in any ordinary year LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard would be runaway victors. But this 2016-2017 season has been anything but ordinary. Let's look at the numbers:
Harden-29.1 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 11.2 APG on 44%/35%/85% shooting
Westbrook-31.9 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 10.4 APG on 43%/34%/84% shooting
Those numbers, in particular the efficiencies, are eerily similar. Yes, Russell is averaging a triple-double which is almost unprecedented, but Harden is right there with him. The MVP race is tight, real tight.
I have said it before and I will say it again: Russell Westbrook is the MVP. I have struggled finding a way to articulate why this is the case for a while, but I feel as though now I can explain why. And in fact, it's quite simple. James Harden has been extremely productive because of the system he plays in. Russell Westbrook has been extremely productive despite the system he plays in. You might ask: What difference does it make, they're both productive? Yes, but that is where the "valuable" in "Most Valuable Player" comes into play. Harden is surrounded by shooters. He plays in a system in which he is able to run infinite pick-and-rolls and play at a rapid pace. Yes, Harden is very valuable to the Rockets - no one could argue with that statement - but Daryl Morey and Mike D'Antoni could, and in my opinion should, win Executive and Coach of the Year respectively. The way in which D'Antoni has seamlessly implemented his "7 Seconds or Less" system in Houston has been mesmerizing. Morey played his role by signing sharpshooters Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, while trading for another in Lou Williams. Oklahoma City on the other hand doesn't really have a "system". Their system, if you want to call it that, is to give Brodie the rock. That's really it. They are so dependent on Westbrook and to be frank, he doesn't have the supporting cast that Harden does. One could argue the top two players from the Rockets and the Thunder are Harden and Westbrook, and after that the Rockets have the four next best players. I don't really even think that is debatable.
Yes, the Rockets have won 8 more games than the Thunder, but after losing an All-World talent in Kevin Durant, the Thunder didn't fall off of a cliff as the Cavaliers did circa 2010. Why didn't they just survive, but excel? Russell Westbrook.
