If it was up to me, James Harden would already have 2 MVP awards.

He should’ve won it over Curry in the 2014-15 season. That season Harden led a bunch of scrubs and injured guys to the number 2 seed in the Western Conference Finals. We all remember the horrid Dwight Howard era in Houston, don’t we? I love Dwight and all, but his few stops after Orlando have gone a bit worse than according to plan. Outside of Harden, Houston was a mess that season and he still found a way to find success. Curry was fantastic, but his Warriors team was supposed to be as good as they were considering they had such great pieces around him.

Last season we got all caught up in the glamour of Russell Westbrook and gave him the award over Harden. In reality, it should’ve been the Beard’s trophy. Russ played amazing, but it did not benefit his team any more than it benefitted himself. Averaging a triple double is extremely tough and extremely selfish. Harden led a similarly bad supporting cast to a way better season (55-27 vs. 47-35) and even a series win over OKC in the first round of the playoffs. I was beyond pissed off seeing Russ win it even though I knew he would.

Anybody who believes James Harden is not the 2017-18 NBA MVP needs to be drug tested.

Yes, Lebron is the best player in the league, and yes Anthony Davis is a monster, but neither of the two is even close to Jimmy Harden in the MVP race. Bron has led what might be the biggest mess of a team in NBA history this season. He’s incredible, yet he isn’t leading his team to be better than Harden is. The argument of Harden having CP3 can’t invalidate him making his team better since he has missed so many games. Love is far and above better than any option beyond Chris Paul also. If Lebron was the MVP he wouldn’t be third in the garbage East with the chance of falling to 5. In my opinion, Lebron should still finish second in MVP voting even if the Cavs finish 5^th in the toilet bowl of the Eastern Conference.

Anthony Davis is the only other guy I am even considering giving a slight argument about here. If he stays healthy, he’ll be the best player in the world when Lebron leaves. Sad Fact: he won’t stay healthy. He’s too big and too explosive to keep his knees and ankles all together like they should. Celtics better not fuck with trading Jaylen Brown or Tatum for him, but that’s another article for another day, wink wink. The Brow is putting up season averages of 28.1ppg, 11.1rpg, and 2.5bpg. Very impressive stats for the kid. He might even lead that garbage Pelicans team to the playoffs. Davis will have MVP’s in his future, this just isn’t his year. The only reason it isn’t his year is because it’s James Harden’s year and I don’t give a shit what anybody argues.

This is James Harden’s year.

His team recently clinched the best record in the NBA for this season. The best record in the NBA while the 73-9 Warriors plus Kevin Durant exists. Chris Paul has missed quite a bit of time, so that best record should be all attributed to James Harden in my mind. This season he is averaging 30.8ppg, 8.8apg, and 5.4rpg. All crazy numbers that are not gained through being selfish, but through getting his team to win. Russell Westbrook seriously has gotta take some notes. Right now, the Rockets have even odds with the Warriors to win the finals. At this point, if you’re still iffy on whether or not Harden is the MVP, you’ve got an extreme bias for someone else. The lack of competition for MVP is what makes James Harden deserving of being the unanimous MVP. The second ever. Winning this MVP will be a huge stepping stone for the Beard and his all-time NBA ranks. I believe that he will end as the second-best shooting guard of all time after Michael Jordan and that Kobe fella.

James Harden still has time to rack up MVP awards and NBA titles to the point where a Kobe vs. Harden argument is a realistic possibility.

But yea, James Harden should for sure be the unanimous MVP.

-Brandon Black (@bhblack02)