James Harden should have some lofty goals in 2019-20

2. Win another MVP

Despite entering the 2018-19 NBA season as the reigning Most Valuable Player, James Harden would work tirelessly to further demonstrate why many around the game regard him as one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball last season.

This was on the way towards putting together an individual scoring stretch that had not been witnessed since the merger, as the man who once starred behind the shadows of Kevin Durant would insert his name among elite company.

In a season that will forever be known to Houston Rockets fans as The Unguardable Tour, Harden became the first player in NBA history to ever post a 40-point, eight-rebound and seven-assist stat line in a calendar month.

He also became the first player to score at least 30 points against every other team in a single season, as Harden would join The Logo, Jerry West, as the only players to ever record at least 600 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists during the month of January.

Yet in spite of carving out his magnum opus canvas to date on the hardwood, Harden’s 1ncredibl3 run would fall short in his quest to capture the league’s highest individual honor for the fourth time in the last five seasons.

Instead, Harden recorded yet another runner-up finish, as the player who averaged over 35 points per game on lesser shots, free throws and minutes per game than Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan was forced to retreat back to the gym without a trophy in hand to commemorate his grand season.

"“Once the media has a narrative creates a narrative about somebody from the beginning of the year, I think they just take that narrative and run with it the entire year,” Harden said when asked about his thoughts on last season’s MVP race and the final voting tally in an offseason interview on 97.9 The Box in Houston several weeks ago. “All I can do is control what I can do, and I went out there and did what I supposed to do at a high level.”"

Although Harden’s critics could seek to argue that the same narrative surrounding his campaign from the previous season served as the foundation that helped him capture MVP honors, seeking to capture his second one following the aftermath of putting together one of the finest runner-up seasons for the award could make for one of the cooler stories in the league next season.

That’s not the ultimate goal of course; playing for a larger prize loom much larger than laying claim to yet another solitary accolade, as winning the acclaimed distinction for the second time in a three-year span would only help Harden elevate himself a tad further in the conversation of all-time greats.

Plus illustrate that success is often the best revenge, as playing alongside The Brodie will only serve as added motivation for No. 13 to take back the crown.