The 2017-18 NBA basketball regular season has come to an end, and there are just a few questions people need answers on. But the biggest question that still needs to be answered is, who will win the 2018 Nba Mvp award?
The race for the award has seemingly come down to just two players, James Harden of the Houston Rockets and LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the guy that is truly deserving of the award is the man known as the ‘King’, and I are here to explain to you, why.
It’s a close race
For the first time in his career, LeBron James played in all 82 games, a testament to his true durability.
He did this while averaging career high’s in rebounds with 8.6 a night, and assists with 9.1 per game plus his 27.5 points per game in his best since the 2009-10 season. So why isn’t this man the runaway MVP? Well, a guy in Houston named James Harden just had another spectacular MVP-worthy campaign. Harden led the Rockets to the best record in the league at 65-17 and did so while stuffing the stat sheet. The team record is something a lot of voters look at when deciding on the award, and the fact that he contributed so positively to his team's success is a huge reason a voter might sway towards Harden. But if you ask the question, has Harden been the most valuable player this year? The answer is simply, no.
LeBron James has had a crazy season this year, and he has had to face a lot of obstacles. With his star big men Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson missing significant time due to injury, not having Isaiah Thomas for half the season and then having to adjust to the total revamp of the roster, it has not been easy for LeBron. But he has still managed to keep his team afloat, with historic performances and still led his team to 50 wins, almost an identical record to their previous season.
He has played in every game of the season, and has acted as a player-coach to orchestrate the new players into the team and fit them into the system.
You could make cases for both players being MVP, but there are a few key reasons why we believe the King deserves the award.
Why LeBron deserves it
LeBron James has played in all 82 games while leading the whole of the NBA in minutes played.
When the Cavs acquired their new players halfway through the season, LeBron made it his mission to play in as many games as possible to help the guys fit in, if that doesn’t speak to value, I don’t know what does. On the other hand, James Harden has missed 10 games this season, and his team still managed to win seven of them with the leadership of Chris Paul and their star players. King James has not had that luxury, he has had to keep his foot on the transmission during his whole 15th season.
And as we look at the stats as the season has come to an end, LeBron James scored more points, grabbed more rebounds, dished more assists, played more minutes and played more games than James Harden. He also shot the ball at a higher efficiency, nine percent better from the field than The Beard, and just under one percent better from beyond the arc, Harden has James’ number in free throw shooting, however.
A huge talking point this season has been triple-doubles, and LeBron has had a career-best 18 of them, compared to Harden’s four.
Lastly, James Harden may play in an arguably tougher conference, but LeBron has just dominated, winning the Eastern Conference player of the month award in November, December, February, March, and April - every month except January. Harden has won the Western Conference player of the month award in just November, with players like Westbrook, Curry, and Davis claiming the award in the other months.
So although the Houston Rockets had a historic season, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player is an individual award at the end of the day. For a guy to be out there all season for his guys, putting up career numbers across the board and breaking records along the way, while having to adjust to a completely revamped roster and still having his team on a good path heading into the playoffs, that’s our MVP. Harden had a great season and deserves the award at some point in his career, but just not this season. This is LeBron’s year.
