While many believe that the MVP race this year is between Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook and James Harden of the Houston Rockets, LeBron James is quietly having another outstanding campaign. Most of the attention may be on the two aforementioned stars and even on San Antonio Spurs‘ Kawhi Leonard, but it will very difficult to argue that The King is not deserving to win the highest individual award in the NBA again this season.
Even Colin Cowherd thinks the same way and made a bold claim during his podcast, The Herd, that the Cleveland Cavaliers star forward should be named MVP every season. He also stated that there’s nothing special about triple-doubles for him and even went as far as saying the he feels insulted having to bring up Westbrook and Harden in the conversation ahead of James.
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The veteran sportscaster and sports media personality is known for not being shy to speak his mind and give his opinion even on controversial topics. Although it can be argued that James has a bigger impact to the game for what he has accomplished in his career, the two former teammates with the Thunder are also having a season for the ages and are definitely worthy to lift the Maurice Podoloff Trophy.
Westbrook is on pace to average a triple-double for the entire regular season with a league-leading 31.9 points, to go along with 10.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists per game. Despite the departure of Kevin Durant last summer, his team will likely be headed to the playoffs and could pose a serious threat to the top contenders in the West.
Harden on the other hand has been solid for the Rockets, who are currently in third place in the tough Western Conference. He also leads the league in assists after only being transitioned to the point guard spot before the season started. He has stellar averages of 28.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 11.2 assists per game.
However, James is equally as impressive as them with 26.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per outing. More importantly, he is the leader of the top team in the East and is geared for another deep playoff run to defend the championship they won a year ago.
Cowherd’s statement may be considered very strong as he made the argument for the former four-time winner, but if there’s one thing certain, it won’t be easy for the voters to decide who to pick as the MVP this year as all three have made a strong case for themselves to deserve it.
