As much as I hate to admit it, because I hate the way he plays, Harden should come in second in the MVP race this season. However, I still think Curry should be the unanimous winner due to the much better team record. GSW is on track to win 67 or 68 wins. That puts them in the upper stratosphere of all time great regular season teams. HOU will likely win 54 or 55 games. That's a good record season, but not nearly as impressive as 67 or 68 wins. It wouldn't be unprecedented for a player on a 67 win team to not win MVP, but it's uncommon and when it does happen, it still goes to a player on a 63 or 64 win team, not a player on a 54/55 win team (Harden) or 46/47 win team (Westbrook). Here's a list of 67+ win teams and MVP winners: 1995-96 Chicago Bulls 72-10, MVP = Michael Jordan 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers 69-13, MVP = Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Milwaukee Bucks 63-19) 1996-97 Chicago Bulls 69-13, MVP = Karl Malone (Utah Jazz 64-18) 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers 68-13, MVP = Wilt Chamberlain 1972-73 Boston Celtics 68-14, MVP = Dave Cowens 1985-86 Boston Celtics 67-15, MVP = Larry Bird 1991-92 Chicago Bulls 67-15, MVP = Michael Jordan 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers 67-15, MVP = Shaquille O'Neal 2006-07 Dallas Maverics 67-15, MVP = Dirk Nowitski So, with two exceptions, when team has won at least 67 games, their best player wins MVP. In the case of the two exceptions, the MVP played on team that won 64 and 63 games. BNM
OKC is an incredibly well built team. They really develop their bench guys. We couldn't do as well if we had the same kinds of injuries.
