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Making An MVP Case For The NBA’s 4 Leading Candidates

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) hugs Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) after the Rockets defeated the City Thunder at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 118 to 116 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) hugs Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) after the Rockets defeated the City Thunder at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 118 to 116 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) hugs Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) after the Rockets defeated the City Thunder at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 118 to 116 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

As the 2016-17 NBA season enters its home stretch, here’s a look at the MVP case for the league’s four leading candidates: Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James.

More than any other professional sports league, the NBA is driven by star power. From social media to advertisements to individual branding to highlights from each franchise’s best players, NBA superstars are as accessible, scrutinized and beloved by their fans as any other sports figures.

It makes sense, then, that the Most Valuable Player Award of that kind of league is such an important distinction. Even in straight forward seasons it’s a source of constant debate, but in this 2016-17 campaign, it may be more contentious than ever.

Simply put, this is one of the most loaded MVP races in NBA history, with as many as four candidates deserving votes at the end of the season (and seven if you include our secondary candidates, Isaiah Thomas, Kevin Durant and John Wall).

There’s LeBron James, the undisputed best player on the planet who just led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their first NBA title last June. There’s Kawhi Leonard, the most fearsome two-way player in the league right now and the driving force behind a San Antonio Spurs team threatening to secure the No. 1 seed in its first season without Tim Duncan.

There’s James Harden, the 2014-15 MVP runner-up who has spearheaded a surprisingly successful Houston Rockets team under Mike D’Antoni‘s enjoyable direction. And finally, there’s Russell Westbrook, who’s carrying the Oklahoma City Thunder with an incomprehensible triple-double average.

The MVP Award takes more into account than “Who is the best player?” or “Who would win one-on-one?” This honor includes a player’s individual numbers, their advanced statistics, how successful their team is, how much worse their team would be without them, and whose season the 2016-17 campaign really belongs to (i.e. narrative).

Bearing all those factors in mind, it’s time to take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate’s MVP case, and rank them from deserving to most deserving. (Calling anyone “least deserving” doesn’t feel right, since even our fourth ranked candidate is deserving. But I digress.)

Honorable Mentions: Isaiah Thomas (not quite good enough numbers or team success), Kevin Durant (missing too many games, too much talent around him) and John Wall (not quite good enough numbers, slow start to the season)