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NBA Awards Watch: James Harden vs. Stephen Curry For MVP

By Gerald Bourguet

Dec 6, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) drives the ball on a fast break during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 6, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) drives the ball on a fast break during the first quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 29, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) shoots against the Philadelphia 76ers in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

5. LeBron James

64 games, 36.3 MPG, 25.7 PPG, 7.3 APG, 5.9 RPG, 1.6 SPG, .489/.353/.717 shooting, 26.0 PER

Last week: 5 (⇔)

I cannot stress this enough: a few seasons ago, the numbers LeBron James is putting up right now probably would’ve been good enough for an MVP Award. But his 2014-15 campaign doesn’t quite stack up to what Davis, Westbrook, Curry or Harden are doing right now.

Still, King James’ greatness should not be taken for granted. That head-scratching loss to the Brooklyn Nets caught us by surprise, but LeBron still impressed in that game, finishing with a 24-9-5-5 stat line. A one-point win over the Philadelphia 76ers was similarly underwhelming, but the Cleveland Cavaliers did start the week off by completely waxing those Grizzly bears in Memphis.

If LeBron really were intent on winning another MVP, maybe he’d kick things into that extra gear on a nightly basis. But individual awards aren’t the primary goal for the King right now; the ultimate goal is bringing that first championship to Cleveland. No shame in falling short of the MVP and gunning for the Larry O’Brien trophy when the playoffs roll around.

Next: No. 4 - The Brow