This season’s MVP race has certainly been interesting. With the two leading candidates (LeBron James and Joel Embiid) set to miss weeks, the award is really anybody’s to win at this point.
For Nets star James Harden, however, he wasn’t shy about declaring himself worthy of winning the award for the second time of his career.
Here’s James Harden tonight when asked if he belongs in the MVP conversation: “I feel like I am the MVP” pic.twitter.com/2D6cKn7xp8
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) March 27, 2021
If you go strictly by the numbers, Harden does have a pretty solid case. This season, he’s averaging 25.3 points, 11.2 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game on 46.3% shooting. The Nets sit second in the East with a 31-15 record.
But if you consider who he gets to call his teammates (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin), and the way he dumped the Rockets organization a few months ago, things become a little more complicated…
https://twitter.com/barrypottercom/status/1375642537986289664
after the bullshit that he pulled in Houston to start the season, i'd refuse to vote for him. You are not an MVP because you played 20-30 good games. Sorry but not sorry
— sebastian antonio (@sebastianantonx) March 27, 2021
Was a team cancer and quit on his team but he's the MVP
— I Wonder is a Top 5 Kanye song (@TickyTac) March 27, 2021
You lose all respect + chance to win MVP when he played so lackadaisical for the first part of the year in Houston.. that’s wack. Cant and will never be a @JHarden13 fan. He probably got fouled and is at the line shooting free throws as I tweeted this..
— jigi (@jigi14s) March 27, 2021
An MVP will bring his team to the top.
He left his team at Houston in limbo. You're not an MVP.
— Joseph Yatco (@joey_yatco) March 27, 2021
An mvp doesn’t quit in his team… ask Houston
— arthur (@archman_13) March 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/goPHPnow/status/1375643386074517507
Harden is certainly a special player, but it’s going to take some time for his reputation to recover from the debacle and controversy that was his exit from the Rockets. Honestly, after that whole charade, one could make the case he doesn’t deserve MVP honors, not when guys like Damian Lillard and Nikola Jokic are doing what they are doing with their respective teams.
Gotta give Harden credit for his confidence, though.
