EDITOR’S NOTE: All stats and information are accurate at time of print on April 13th.
As the NBA season reaches the final stretch, so does the race for the league’s MVP award.
Living in Louisiana and being a former Pelicans season ticket holder, my heart says New Orleans forward Anthony Davis is the best bet. My co-worker probably has all the stats you could ever ask for — and ones you didn’t ask for — in his column that make that case, and it’s a strong one.
Davis is the best shot-blocker in the game and is currently having the one of the best seasons in NBA history, according to the player efficiency rating stat.
But before I bow to the Brow, there’s another facial hair aficionado in the NBA that deserves the league’s most prestigious individual honor: the Rockets’ bearded James Harden.
While in Oklahoma City, Harden was the sixth man while superstar teammates Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant overshadowed him. But since arriving in Houston, Harden has become a superstar of even bigger levels than that of his former teammates.
While the Thunder scratch and claw to stay in the battle for the playoffs, Harden has helped push the Rockets a half-game out of the No. 2 seed.
Davis’ Pelicans might make the playoffs, but they’ll finish at least nine games behind Houston, if not more.
You’re probably thinking, “That’s not fair because the Rockets have a better supporting cast for Harden than the Pelicans have given Davis,” which is true if Dwight Howard hadn’t missed half of the Rockets’ games, playing in only 40 of 80 contests.
Take Howard out of the equation, and the Pelicans and Rockets aren’t much different.
Both teams have foreign big men that aren’t exactly all-stars in Omer Asik and Donatas Motiejunas. Josh Smith is past his prime and more of a liability than anything of value. Trevor Ariza and Dante Cunningham are similar outside of Ariza’s shooting touch. Both teams have played without their best point guard down the stretch.
As a Pelicans fan, I’m aware of how injury-plagued they have been, but the Rockets have actually had it worse. They rank third in the league “Did Not Plays” behind only the Timberwolves and Lakers.
So where does the large gap between the two teams come in? With the last remaining variables of Harden and Davis.
While Davis sat out 14 games and missed time in countless others, Harden has only missed one and leads the entire league in minutes played this season.
All year, the one thing the Rockets could count on was Harden suiting up and playing more than three quarters of basketball almost every night. To make the playoffs, they needed him to play at an elite level, and he’s done just that.
The Arizona State product has carried the Rockets, scoring or assisting on 42 percent of the team’s total points this year, the highest total since Derrick Rose’s 2010-2011 MVP season.
Offensively, Harden is thought of as a pull-up 3-point shooter, but this year, he’s been just as aggressive getting to the basket, ranking first in free throws made and attempted. The new style has Harden battling Westbrook for the league’s scoring title, trailing by only fractions of a point.
He’s even gotten his teammates involved on offense more than ever, posting a career-high 6.9 assists per game.
The offensive-minded star has developed his game to be even more dynamic than ever before with the ball, but his defensive changes have helped become an MVP candidate.
While many will remember Harden for his previous lackadaisical defense, he’s stepped his game up this year as he ranks fifth in the NBA in steals per game and is tied for second with Chris Paul in total steals. His reputation as a one-way player may cost him, but his on-court performance this year has been more than enough for him to become the Rockets’ first MVP winner since Hakeem Olajuwon.
If Harden can get the Rockets back into the two-seed and clinch the franchise’s first division title since Olajuwan’s 1994 team, he should leave Davis, Westbrook and the rest of the NBA MVP candidates behind and have fans everywhere fearing the Beard.
Brian Pellerin is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Kenner, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @Pellerin_TDR.