2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates
Who Owned The Season
This is fairly similar to narrative, but much like the 2014-15 season when it felt like Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors owned the season, Harden may fall short again of a much-deserved MVP award simply because of this question.
Harden and the Rockets were a great story, and their historic three-point onslaught was leaps and bounds ahead of last season’s team in terms of watchability. But at no point did it feel like Houston was THE story of the league, due in no small part to the Dubs and Spurs putting together 60-win seasons.
OKC didn’t even sniff those three teams in the win column, but if you’re looking for the face of the NBA in 2016-17, it was Russell Westbrook. As random a factor as that sounds, that has to matter when selecting the MVP. The award is meant for the player who stood out the most that season, so when people 50 years from now look back on NBA history, they know who was the NBA’s alpha male of each particular season.
No one will ever forget Westbrook’s triple-double season, regardless of whether or not he wins the award. That almost makes it tempting to vote for Harden since it’d be a pity for another MVP-caliber season to be forgotten by the history books when Russ’ year will be remembered no matter what.
But just because Harden has been deserving of two MVP awards doesn’t mean he has to win one. Plenty of unforgettable seasons have fallen short of an MVP award. It’s truly unfortunate the Beard may experience that feeling twice in a three-year span, but Westbrook was the face of the NBA this season.