The NBA Awards Show was held on Monday night (June 25), as many stars gathered to get their respective awards. There had been much debate leading up to the show about who should get MVP for the season, along with who should win Rookie of the Year. James Harden won NBA MVP, but fans, and now, even Kyrie Irving, believe that LeBron James deserved the award and should have received it instead.

Kyrie voices his opinion

Despite Kyrie Irving wanting to be traded away from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and more significantly, wanting to get out of LeBron James' shadow and grow as a player elsewhere, he still stuck up for his old teammate and voiced his truthful opinion.

Irving expressed his view on the radio station Hot 97 in New York on Wednesday (June 27).

He had this to say about the result, "I think the people's MVP was definitely James [Harden], but the NBA MVP is definitely LeBron [James]." Kyrie Irving truly believes that the people were for Harden winning, but that LeBron was more deserving of the award. When asked why he believes his former teammate was MVP of the league, he believed the statistics told the story. He used the words "he's incredible," and "he checks every mark."

Harden's time

Despite what Kyrie is saying, the Houston Rockets and James Harden had a sensational season, as he averaged "30.4 points while leading the Rockets to a franchise record 65 victories," as stated by ESPN.

He was nearly unstoppable on the court, dishing out assists and scoring at will. James Harden was very close to winning the award the prior season, but lost to Russell Westbrook, after the latter guard put up crazy numbers, including posting a lot of triple-doubles. The Rockets fell short against the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, as they lost to the defending champs 4-3 in the series.

Harden finally was able to win MVP, and the fact that he was so close to winning it last year may have factored into him winning it for this season.

The case for LeBron James

An article by Sports Illustrated gives a rundown on what LeBron James accomplished in his 15th season in the league as "he averaged 27.5 points, 9.1 assists, and 8.6 rebounds." Not only are the numbers impressive, but The King was able to play in every single game this season.

Sports Illustrated points out that The King "has not won the award since his back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 following his NBA titles with the Miami Heat."

A reason that LeBron did not win MVP could be because his team was up and down all season long. The Cavaliers struggled mightily during stretches and did not perform well on the defensive side, while the Rockets were one of the best teams in a tightly contested and tougher conference. It is fair to say that James Harden had something to do with that.

LeBron James also has a big decision to make in the coming days that can impact the whole league. He has to decide to stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers or take his talents to a new city. Many rumors are out that other players like Paul George, Chris Paul, and Kawhi Leonard could factor into his decision.
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