Harden is humble, but sure that the top spot is his
2014-2015 will be remembered as the year when everything was up for grabs. Outside of the top spot in each conference (kudos to the Hawks and Warriors) nothing else was certain. There are no sure-fire bets for the Finals, the scoring championship is currently separated by such a small margin you have to expand your truncation by several decimal points just to prove it’s not really a tie between James Harden and Russell Westbrook, and the MVP race is as wide open as it has ever been. Legitimate cases could be made for no less than five players, but in reality, there are two front-runners, and it really is a toss-up.
James Harden the fearless anchor of the 53-25, 3rd place Houston Rockets has kept his team not only afloat, but dominant, despite the prolonged absence of their starting center, Dwight Howard, a top 5 player at the position. Further out west, the 1st place Golden State Warriors have been led by the record-setting Stephen Curry all season, but many claim it’s his ridiculous supporting cast–one of Curry teammates, All-Star Klay Thompson, scored 37 points in a quarter earlier this season, and two others are Defensive Player of the Year candidates–that would’ve made it nearly impossible for the Warriors to be bad this year.
Last night, in an interview with NBA.com, Harden acknowledged the year Stephen Curry is having, but was very clear about who the real Most Valuable Player is.
I feel as though I am the MVP. I think the MVP is the most valuable player to your team. Obviously, you have to be winning and be one of the top teams in this league, and we are. I’m not taking credit away from anybody else in the league. But I’ve been consistent all year. I’ve just been doing the right things to put my team in situations to win, considering all of the different circumstances we’ve had to deal with. I’m looking at all those things put together. Not taking away from Steph or that team. It’s an unbelievable season that they’re having. But we’re having a pretty good season as well with all the injuries and all that we’ve been going through this season…Look, I understand that people can go either way with it. But for the most valuable player, I think I would have the edge.
