James Harden of the Houston Rockets is one of two or three guys seriously in the hunt for the MVP award this year.
Interestingly enough, he doesn’t have more wins than two of the top candidates, yet wants wins to factor more into the MVP conversation than they do.
Here’s Harden, courtesy of ESPN.com’s Calvin Watkins:
“I think that’s the most important thing. I thought winning is what this is about — period. I’m not going to get in-depth with all that, but I thought winning was the most important thing. If you set your team up in a position to have a chance, at the ultimate goal, that’s the most important thing.”
As Watkins pointed out, this seemed to echo the sentiments of Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, seen here:
AAU…All-Star game…Draft Lottery…2017 MVP race. Basketball is losing its focus on winning
— Daryl Morey 🗽🏀 (@dmorey) April 8, 2017
More context: '62 MVP #1 Bill Russell (60 Wins-20 Losses),#2 Wilt Chamberlain (49 W-31 L), #3 Oscar Robertson (43 W-37 L, avg triple double) https://t.co/2wRKI4JfFT
— Daryl Morey 🗽🏀 (@dmorey) April 9, 2017
Yet Harden’s Rockets have 54 wins. That puts him ahead of triple-double machine Russell Westbrook seeing as the Oklahoma City Thunder have 46. But it puts him behind Kawhi Leonard because the San Antonio Spurs have 61 wins. Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors have 66.
It’s great Harden has this team-based approach and wants it to matter more. Maybe it should, though historically speaking, wins have always played a rather large factor in the award already.
That said, it would be great if Harden and Westbrook had a little more fire in their rivalry centered around the hardware.
Fans will just have to settle for the two meeting for a lengthy series in the first round of the playoffs.
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