James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo have been the names that have been on our lips all season long. These two have been taking the league by storm and it’s really no surprise they’ve been doing this due to their well known aim of capturing the 2018-19 Most Valuable Player award. And they’ve actually proved their cases in such a way that many of us are split into who we should actually back for the prestige award.
IMAGE CREDIT: USA TODAY
Take note, James Harden is already a winner of the Most Valuable Player award as he achieved that last season at which was pretty obvious. He may not have been unanimous like Stephen Curry but all road where leading to him winning the award. But why is he gunning for the award again? Simple. To prove (again) that he is the amongst the best of the NBA and I truly believe he stated that long ago before he even won the award. This season, he may have come up late with his spectacular performances but for the mere fact he’s had nine 50-point games is just mindblowing! Let alone the fact he’s averaging 36.3 points is just out of this world. He’s pulling numbers of legends such as Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the underrated Wilt Chamberlain. Allow me to also mention that this man pulled his team from the 13th seed position to the 3rd position they comfortably sit in today.
IMAGE CREDIT: FOX SPORTS
On the other side, we have a young man who’s been on a mission all year long. It all started with Kobe Bryant challenging him to win the MVP award and to be honest I was convinced he was going to take the award last season. But what if the timing was wrong, what if this season (or potentially the next season) is the season he gets to become an official MVP. Well, allow me to state his case. A 24 year old Giannis is averaging 27.4 points 12.5 rebounds 5.9 assists and a field goal percentage of 57.7%. The last 24 year old to average close to these numbers was Shaquille O’Neal and although he didn’t win the MVP award then he went on to win the award later on. But that shouldn’t damage Giannis’ case to win the award because he has lead his team to a 1st seed position in the East, which basically had his team secure Playoff contention, the best record in the league and a chance to actually take a trip to The Finals. Sure, in the beginning of the season we were all expecting the Celtics to take this position but with the way the Bucks have been dominating the league it’s safe to think or even assume that Giannis will be making his very first Finals appearance.
You’re probably asking yourself “what about Paul George/LeBron James/Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant?”. Well the only player that should be the third nominee for the MVP award is Paul George but he’s at a slight decline right now and we shouldn’t blame him because we know he’s reserving his MVP Calibre for the Playoffs. But it’s only fair to say Giannis and Harden are the only two superstars that deserve to be mentioned in the MVP talk.
IMAGE CREDIT: MARCA
Take in mind that the last time we saw a horse race like this was in 2016-17 when Russell Westbrook was in high contention for the MVP award with someone I’ve been mentioning; James Harden. So it’s only right to have goosebumps and tickles for this MVP race because these two are monsters on the basketball court.
Who do I think will win the award? It’s really hard to tell. But what I can honestly say is that the winner will be deserving to go home with the honour of being the Most Valuable Player and I believe it should be Giannis…AND James Harden. Yes, CO-MVPS!
The Baseline 