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NBA Awards Watch: Why Isn’t James Harden The MVP Favorite Again?

By Gerald Bourguet

Feb 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) points to the sky against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Rockets won 127-118. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) points to the sky against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Rockets won 127-118. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 7, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) dunks the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the first half at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports /

10. John Wall

53 games, 35.7 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 10.2 APG, 4.5 RPG, 1.9 SPG, .460/.317/.765 shooting, 20.8 PER

Last week: N/A

John Wall has been slipping in and out of the top 10 for the past few weeks because he’s a difficult candidate to place. He leads the NBA in assists, sure, but one week the Washington Wizards will look like contenders in the East and next they’ll lose five straight games. Halfway through this past week, that was exactly the case.

Since then, however, the Wizards have won two in a row to move back to third in the Eastern Conference standings. Wall played admirably all week, including a 24-point, nine-assist, seven-rebound night in a losing effort against the Atlanta Hawks.

It’s far too late for Wall to make a real MVP push at this point, since the Wizards would probably need to win the East for that to happen. He’s a dynamic playmaker who makes at least one or two passes a night that are SportsCenter Top 10 worthy, but he’s not quite on par with our other candidates.

Next: No. 9 - CP3