2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates
Team Success
This one is fairly easy to decide, even if you believe there’s a considerable talent gap between Harden’s teammates and Westbrook’s supporting cast.
For most voters, winning has a considerable bearing on the MVP race. Basketball is a team game, which means the MVP should be someone who elevates his teammates and helps them reach a higher plane than someone simply putting up All-Star numbers on a terrible team.
Now, winning shouldn’t be the end-all, be-all for MVP voting. There are many other factors to consider, because if this award was simply handed out to the best player on the NBA’s best team, we’d be deciding between Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant right now. Weighing winning too heavily should also give Rockets fans pause, since Kawhi Leonard’s case gets stronger the further you go down that road.
Saying winning is the most important factor for MVP when you’re currently the 3 seed. Bold take.
— Greg (@gwiss) April 10, 2017
However, winning is an undeniable factor here. There’s a reason the last player to win MVP for a team that didn’t rank in the top three of their respective conference standings was Moses Malone 35 years ago, when his Houston Rockets were the fifth seed in the West.
That Rockets team won 46 games, one fewer than OKC won this season, but Harden’s team won 55 games for the third-best record in the league. The Thunder won 47 games, good for the sixth-best record in the West and the 10th-best record in the NBA. Advantage, Harden.