2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates
Narrative
Don’t get me wrong, the Rockets’ unexpected success is an intriguing enough story on its own. The Rox lost Dwight Howard after a disappointing season, the Beard bounced back, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson enjoyed career years and Mike D’Antoni was relevant once again for embracing the pace-and-space movement he started, only in a way the NBA had never seen.
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It’s compelling stuff, especially now that D’Antoni has proven he can still coach in this league as long as he has the kind of visionary point guard he had in Phoenix with Steve Nash. Harden is the driving force behind all of those good vibes.
But after losing Kevin Durant in free agency last summer, the Thunder needed some sort of distraction to keep their minds off the crumbled heap of a dynasty that never was. They needed a reason to enjoy the present and look to the future, rather than dwell on the past. They needed a legitimate Russell Westbrook MVP campaign.
The Brodie delivered all that and more. He snatched the face of the franchise for himself like Arya Stark. His clutch late-game performances and accompanying scowl breathed life into an organization that had every reason to be depressed. The impact of his season was immeasurable to this fan base.
At the end of the day, the Thunder are no longer title contenders. But Russ averaging a triple-double made their season historic in its own right, and accomplishing such a gargantuan feat in his very first year without KD sent a very clear message that OKC fans needed: We don’t need your sympathy. From a narrative standpoint, the MVP angle doesn’t get much sweeter than that.