Houston Rockets

2016-17 NBA Awards Season: Ranking The Top 4 MVP Candidates

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 7:33 p.m. ET

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Mar 26, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shake hands after a game at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

With the 2016-17 regular season over, it's time to review the top candidates for NBA awards season. Here are final rankings for the four MVP frontrunners.

The 2016-17 NBA regular season is over and the 2017 NBA Playoffs are already underway. But even with the postseason getting started, there's still one thing that needs to be taken care of: NBA awards season!

Though a Golden State Warriors-Cleveland Cavaliers Finals battle seems inevitable for the third straight year, basketball fans were treated to a truly exceptional regular season.

From Russell Westbrook's triple-double feat to Kawhi Leonard's rise to greatness to a historic, unexpected season from James Harden, there were plenty of awe-inspiring performances and juicy story lines for NBA fans to digest in the MVP debate this season. Unfortunately, that also makes it much harder to decide between all the leading candidates for award season.

We've already covered Coach of the Year candidates, the top 10 for Rookie of the Year, the best Most Improved Player of the Year options, the Sixth Man of the Year frontrunners and a tight Defensive Player of the Year race, so today we'll be wrapping things up with MVP.

After also exploring the five fringe MVP candidates we'd be talking about if not for the four frontrunners, the debate over LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Russell Westbrook deserves its own in-depth breakdown. Now it's finally time to sort out one of the greatest MVP races in league history, including a factor-by-factor breakdown for our top two.

Apr 15, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a dunk in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

4. LeBron James

In any other season, 26.4 points, 8.7 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game on 54.8 percent shooting would be more than enough to merit MVP honors for the best basketball player in the world.

Most likely, LeBron James will be representing the Eastern Conference in his seventh straight Finals this season, and if your favorite team needed a win and could pick any player in the league as its team captain for that one game, you'd be crazy not to pick the King.

But the MVP Award is not based on playoff performances, nor is it based on who the best player is when push comes to shove. It's about who had the best regular season, and even with career-highs in assists and rebounds, LeBron's 2016-17 campaign comes up decidedly short of the next three candidates.

What the King is doing in his 14th season is remarkable, because he sure as hell doesn't look like a 32-year-old when he's racing down the court like a freight train and rising up to throw down demoralizing dunks or record unkind chase-down blocks above the rim. If not for Russell Westbrook and James Harden, LeBron's 13 triple-doubles would've been more memorable.

But this wasn't LeBron's best season, or even one of his five best seasons. That wouldn't matter if no one else measured up to him this year, but that's not the case. Voter fatigue is a real thing for a guy who's already won four MVP awards, and if his latest season doesn't stack up to his peak years, it's harder to be excited about casting one's vote that way. However, it's not just simple voter fatigue that holds LeBron's candidacy back.

The Cleveland Cavaliers only won 51 games, giving them the fifth-best record in the league. That may seem impressive for a team that coasts through the regular season, but shouldn't it matter that LeBron and company were just going through the motions when this MVP debate comes up?

Yes, LeBron played a whopping 37.8 minutes per game this season, so it's hard to say he "coasted." But he also missed eight games, and even if he was still playing a heavy dose of minutes, the Cavs didn't exactly finish the season on the strongest note.

Cleveland was the NBA's second-worst defense since the All-Star break, and 22nd-ranked defense over the entire season. They closed the year on a 10-14 skid, they had a worse record than Kawhi Leonard and James Harden's teams, and they only won four more games than Russell Westbrook's team.

LeBron James deserves to be in the conversation every year, but his drop-off in defensive effort and team success puts him fourth in one of the greatest four-way MVP races of all time.

Mar 6, 2017; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard (2) reacts after a shot against the Houston Rockets during the second half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

3. Kawhi Leonard

From this point onward, you can't really go wrong picking any of the three remaining candidates. LeBron James seems to be the consensus No. 4 choice in this four-horse race, but from here on out, the three frontrunners are all deserving of the award.

In their first season without Tim Duncan since 1997, the San Antonio Spurs won a staggering 61 games, giving them their fifth-best season in franchise history. How'd they do it? Mostly under the guidance of Kawhi Leonard's hand (or baseball mitt, I suppose).

In his best season yet, Kawhi averaged 25.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game, while also doubling as the best individual defender on the league's top-ranked defense. That matters to voters, especially since LeBron, Harden and Russ were average at best on the defensive end this season.

Much was made of San Antonio's defense being better without Kawhi on the floor, since opponents would stick whoever he was guarding away from the action and operate four-on-four to prevent him gumming up the works. But even though the Spurs were eight points stingier per 100 possessions with Leonard off the floor, it's hard to penalize him for his bench playing such great defense.

Leonard's D took a step back this year, which is probably why the two-time reigning Defensive Player of the Year won't add a third trophy this year. But the way he stepped up as a go-to scorer for the NBA's fourth-ranked offense shouldn't be overlooked either.

With the elderly LaMarcus Aldridge, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili serving as his best teammates, Kawhi led the Spurs to 61 wins and the second-best record in the league. People talk about how little help Harden and Westbrook have, but if not for Gregg Popovich's reputation, you could definitely make the case Leonard exceeded expectations more than anyone based on his supporting cast.

Being a two-way player, winning the most games out of our top-four MVP candidates, improving as a playmaker and posting efficient .485/.380/.880 shooting splits all contribute to Kawhi's MVP case, and as we said before, you can't go wrong picking any one of these top three candidates.

But as much as the individual talent is lacking with his supporting cast, the collective chemistry and systematic balance of the Spurs can't be overlooked either.

Kawhi didn't singlehandedly carry this offense, and as much as the defense wouldn't be better without him on the roster, he wasn't quite the same lockdown force of nature he was the last two years for the long haul of the season…even if his head-to-head numbers against other MVP candidates and fellow superstars are favorable.

From a raw numbers standpoint, Leonard's assist and rebounding numbers fall well short of our other three candidates, as do his career-high scoring numbers — even if he only played 33.4 minutes per game. Missing eight games also makes it harder to vote for him over Russ (81 games) or Harden (81 games), even it that's far from the most important or noteworthy criteria to consider.

In such a historic season — the year of the triple-double — there'd be no shame in Kawhi Leonard finishing third in the MVP voting. There's more to this award than picking the best candidate from one of the league's winningest teams, because if that were the deciding factor, the MVP would either go to Steph Curry or Kevin Durant again.

Kawhi Leonard has a compelling case for MVP that's built on team succcess, two-way play and drastically improved offense that helped the Spurs exceed expectations in their first season without Duncan. But compared to the historic seasons Harden and Westbrook just submitted, he comes up a bit short.

Apr 16, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles the ball during the third quarter as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) defends in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden vs. Russell Westbrook

Leaving Kawhi Leonard at No. 3 was hard enough as it is, but choosing between James Harden and Russell Westbrook is like choosing between chocolate and vanilla ice cream — an age-old dilemma with no right or wrong answer, but one that quickly incites debate, disbelief and rage no matter which side you choose.

As is the case with ice cream, "both" feels like the more acceptable answer. If the voting somehow miraculously ended in a tie and Harden and Westbrook were co-MVPs, that might be the most fitting end to one of the closest races in league history.

But since that's highly unlikely to happen with the way the voting is set up, and since ties are un-American, we're here to sort this ordeal out between the Houston Rockets' offensive maestro and the Oklahoma City Thunder's triple-double machine.

To find the dividing line between these two neck-and-neck candidates, we'll be taking a look at 10 distinct categories that are relevant in this MVP discussion: the raw numbers, shooting efficiency, defense, team success, expectations, value to their team, narrative, history/accolades, who owned the season and potential flaws in their MVP candidacy. We start with the basics.

The Numbers

Both Westbrook and Harden played in 81 games, so they're on level ground in that respect. Russ put up 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game, ranking him first, 10th, third and 12th in those respective categories. He also ranked first in rebounds among all guards.

Harden, meanwhile, averaged 29.1 points, 11.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, ranking him second, first, 23rd and 16th in those categories. He ranked second in rebounds among all guards, putting them pretty close to neck-and-neck.

Harden leads the league in made free throws (746) and free throw attempts (881), but Westbrook is not far behind in second place in both categories (710 and 840, respectively).

Harden also finished third in minutes (2,947), third in made threes (262), first in offensive win shares (11.5) and first in total win shares (15.0) to hold the edge over Russ, who finished eighth in minutes (2,802), 11th in made threes (200), ninth in offensive win shares (8.5) and fourth in total win shares (13.1).

However, Russ holds the edge in several advanced categories as well, ranking first in Player Efficiency Rating (30.6), assist percentage (57.3), usage percentage (41.7), Box Plus-Minus (15.5) and Value Over Replacement Player (12.4). Harden comes in at fifth for PER (27.3), second for assist percentage (50.7), fourth in usage percentage (34.2), second in Box Plus-Minus (10.1) and second in VORP (9.0).

Are you sensing a theme? These guys are both clearly elite and they're pretty close in almost every category, but Westbrook has to be given a slight advantage here.

Advantage: Westbrook

April 10, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) shoots against the defense of Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (11) during the first half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Shooting Efficiency

The basic shooting percentages don't paint the full picture. Harden shot 44 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from three-point range and 84.7 percent from the foul line. Despite being criticized as an inefficient gunner, Westbrook wasn't far behind, shooting 42.5 percent from the floor, 34.3 percent from deep and 84.5 percent from the line. Again, these guys are neck-and-neck.

But the Beard gets the slight edge when you consider the range of those shots, particularly from three-point range. While Russ was taking 7.2 threes per game, Harden averaged 9.3 per game.

That adds up to be quite a major difference over the course of 81 games, though it's worth noting Westbrook's much higher usage rate helps close the gap a bit when Adjusted True Shooting Percentage comes into play:

Harden's .613 True Shooting Percentage ranked him 16th in the NBA, while Westbrook's mark of .554 fell well short of the top-20. The Beard also held a decisive advantage in Effective Field Goal Percentage (52.5) compared to Russ (47.6).

Westbrook's insane usage numbers need to be taken into account, but Harden's slightly superior shooting numbers still have the upper hand.

Advantage: Harden

Apr 12, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (22) shoots the ball as Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) defends during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

This is close to a wash, because neither Harden nor Westbrook are respected defenders. They both hovered around "average" this season, often slipping into "below average" territory depending on their workload on the offensive end.

For starters, there's the obvious gap in defense between the two teams. The Thunder were the NBA's 10th-ranked defense, while Houston finished 18th. Per Basketball-Reference, Westbrook finished 13th in the league in defensive rating and eighth in defensive win shares; Harden didn't crack the top 20 in either category.

However, even with Russ holding those advantages and a slight edge in steals, his gambling often put the Thunder's top-10 defense in a tough position. For those paying attention, Westbrook committed far more brain farts losing his man on defense this year than Harden did.

We should also mention that as often as people cite Harden's superior help on the offensive end, Westbrook's defensive metrics are bolstered by OKC's collection of elite defenders, including Victor Oladipo, Steven Adams and an All-Defensive caliber wing in Andre Roberson.

If Harden's MVP case takes a hit because he has better offensive weapons around him, so too should Westbrook's when any perceived defensive advantages get brought up.

Harden remains the scapegoat for Houston's defensive shortcomings, but like his 2014-15 MVP-caliber season, he was actually more passable on that end than in the past if you actually paid attention. It's super close, but even though the on/off numbers favor Westbrook, the eye test gives Harden the edge.

Advantage: Harden

Dec 7, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) celebrates with forward Sam Dekker (7) during Los Angeles Lakers time out in the second half at Toyota Center. The Houston Rockets won 134 to 95. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Team Success

This one is fairly easy to decide, even if you believe there's a considerable talent gap between Harden's teammates and Westbrook's supporting cast.

For most voters, winning has a considerable bearing on the MVP race. Basketball is a team game, which means the MVP should be someone who elevates his teammates and helps them reach a higher plane than someone simply putting up All-Star numbers on a terrible team.

Now, winning shouldn't be the end-all, be-all for MVP voting. There are many other factors to consider, because if this award was simply handed out to the best player on the NBA's best team, we'd be deciding between Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant right now. Weighing winning too heavily should also give Rockets fans pause, since Kawhi Leonard's case gets stronger the further you go down that road.

However, winning is an undeniable factor here. There's a reason the last player to win MVP for a team that didn't rank in the top three of their respective conference standings was Moses Malone 35 years ago, when his Houston Rockets were the fifth seed in the West.

That Rockets team won 46 games, one fewer than OKC won this season, but Harden's team won 55 games for the third-best record in the league. The Thunder won 47 games, good for the sixth-best record in the West and the 10th-best record in the NBA. Advantage, Harden.

Advantage: Harden

Mar 24, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) celebrates after making a basket during the fourth quarter against the New Orleans Pelicans at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Exceeding Expectations

It's funny that so many people think Harden has much more help than Westbrook, because they seem to be forgetting that heading into the 2016-17 campaign, the Thunder were mostly expected to be a playoff team. The Rockets were expected to be fighting for the 8-seed.

Even the official over/under projections before the season began had Houston barely winning 44 games, with OKC a smidgeon behind at 43.5:

The Rockets wound up blowing that projection out of the water with 55 wins. OKC also exceeded expectations with 47 wins, but Houston was clearly one of the NBA's biggest overachievers this year.

Preseason predictions always have to be taken with a grain of salt, but that grain adds a bit of extra flavoring to an MVP race. Similar to narrative, how a team over- or underachieves matters in this context. While OKC is basically who we thought they were, the Rockets being a completely different monster under Harden's hand should've factored into voters' decisions.

Advantage: Harden

Dec 17, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates making three basket against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder defeat the Suns 114-101. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Value To Their Team

The term "Most Valuable Player" is ambiguously worded for a reason. The NBA loves the debate that ensues over what it really means to be MVP. Is it the league's best player? Is it the player with the best season? Is it the player who, if you took them off their respective team, would watch that team crater without their superstar talents leading the way?

In that latter definition, the phrase "most valuable" is taken quite literally to mean the player whose team needed him the most. In that respect, it's hard to argue against Westbrook's MVP case.

Without Harden, the Rockets probably wouldn't be a playoff team, but without Russ, OKC would be a leading lottery team. Westbrook carried his team to 47 wins, and when he was off the court, the Thunder's offense cratered.

With Russ on the court, OKC posted a Net Rating of +3.3. Without him, that number plummeted to -6.9, a difference of 10.2 points per 100 possessions. While Houston's Net Rating of +6.3 with Harden on the floor was better than OKC's with Russ on the court, the Rockets didn't drop off so drastically when the Beard sat, posting a +2.8 Net Rating without their MVP.

In terms of impact, Harden could easily have a better case as the orchestrator of the league's second-ranked offense and most belligerent three-point assault of all time. His impact led to more wins with a group of role players many expected to miss the playoffs. You can easily make the case he makes his teammates better than Russ does.

But as good as the Thunder were defensively this season, there's no question Westbrook had less help to work with, especially without three-point shooters to space the floor like Harden had. That makes his league-leading scoring numbers even more impressive, efficiency aside. Teams knew he was going to drive it straight into the teeth of their defense and still couldn't stop him. At its strictest definition, "Most Valuable Player" leans in Westbrook's favor.

Advantage: Westbrook

November 3, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots a technical foul shot as Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) looks on during the second quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Narrative

Don't get me wrong, the Rockets' unexpected success is an intriguing enough story on its own. The Rox lost Dwight Howard after a disappointing season, the Beard bounced back, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson enjoyed career years and Mike D'Antoni was relevant once again for embracing the pace-and-space movement he started, only in a way the NBA had never seen.

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It's compelling stuff, especially now that D'Antoni has proven he can still coach in this league as long as he has the kind of visionary point guard he had in Phoenix with Steve Nash. Harden is the driving force behind all of those good vibes.

But after losing Kevin Durant in free agency last summer, the Thunder needed some sort of distraction to keep their minds off the crumbled heap of a dynasty that never was. They needed a reason to enjoy the present and look to the future, rather than dwell on the past. They needed a legitimate Russell Westbrook MVP campaign.

The Brodie delivered all that and more. He snatched the face of the franchise for himself like Arya Stark. His clutch late-game performances and accompanying scowl breathed life into an organization that had every reason to be depressed. The impact of his season was immeasurable to this fan base.

At the end of the day, the Thunder are no longer title contenders. But Russ averaging a triple-double made their season historic in its own right, and accomplishing such a gargantuan feat in his very first year without KD sent a very clear message that OKC fans needed: We don't need your sympathy. From a narrative standpoint, the MVP angle doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Advantage: Westbrook

Dec 5, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) celebrates a play with guard Victor Oladipo (5) in the fourth quarter of their game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. The Thunder won 102-99. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

History And Accolades

Before everyone gets swept up in the obvious triple-double thing, it needs to be noted that both Harden and Russ had historic seasons. While Oscar Robertson was the last player to match Russ' 2016-17 stat line, Harden's 29-11-8 line was also only matched by the Big O in NBA history.

That should matter, since the whole "The dude AVERAGED a triple-double, he should automatically be MVP!" operates around a pretty arbitrary 10-10-10 cutoff. Would Russ' season have been any less historic if he had averaged 31 points, 10 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game? The answer should be no.

However, there's no question it was a historic achievement, especially since Westbrook also broke Oscar's single-season triple-double record (41) with 42. He posted seven straight triple-doubles in November and December, matching the longest such streak since Michael Jordan in 1989.

He climbed all the way to third on the NBA's all-time triple-double list, passing Larry Bird and Wilt Chamberlain in the process. His three 50-point triple-doubles — all of which came this season — are the most 50-point triple-doubles in NBA history.

And all this is without mentioning his three game-winners, leading the league in scoring and single-handedly fueling so many fourth quarter comebacks.

If there were ever a time to select an MVP whose team didn't finish with 50+ wins or make the top three in its conference standings, Russell Westbrook feels like an appropriate time to break the mold. It's been 35 years since someone outside the top-three won MVP, but it's been 55 years since we've seen a triple-double average.

However, as much as that 20-game gap in triple-doubles matters, Harden's 22 triple-doubles this season shouldn't just be swept under the rug because of what Russ did. If Westbrook's season never existed, we'd be deifying how the Beard's 22 triple-doubles were the fifth-most in a single season in NBA history — trailing only seasons from Oscar and Wilt.

Doing all this in his first season at point guard makes it even more impressive. While Russ dominated the 50-point triple-double category, Harden actually had as many 40-point triple-doubles as Russ, per StatMuse:

In January, Harden became the fourth player in NBA history to post back-to-back 40-point triple-double, joining Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich and, of course, Russell Westbrook.

Harden also probably had the game of the year, with his 53-point, 17-assist, 16-rebound triple-double on New Year's Eve going down as one of the greatest stat lines in NBA history.

His 53 points in that performance tied Wilt Chamberlain for the most points scored in a triple-double in NBA history…until Russ broke it a few months later with 57 points against the Orlando Magic. Unlike Westbrook's 57-point triple-double on 40 shots, however, it only took Harden 26 shots to get his 53-point triple-double.

Harden is the first player in NBA history to finish a season with 2,000 points, 900 assists and 600 rebounds. He's also the only player other than Tiny Archibald to score 2,000 points and create 2,000 points off of assists in a single season, though Archibald's feat was more impressive since the three-point line wasn't around when he did it.

The Beard also narrowly missed out on breaking Archibald's record of most points accounted for in a single season:

Russ won four Western Conference Player of the Week awards; Harden won four Western Conference of the Week awards. Russ won two Western Conference Player of the Month awards; Harden won one Western Conference Player of the Month award.

Minus the vast difference in triple-doubles, this is almost a dead heat. However, sometimes we get so caught up in all these various accolades we lose sight of the truth and overthink things. Russell Westbrook became the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season. Arbitrary cutoff or not, he wins this round.

Advantage: Westbrook

Feb 26, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts after a dunk against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Who Owned The Season

This is fairly similar to narrative, but much like the 2014-15 season when it felt like Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors owned the season, Harden may fall short again of a much-deserved MVP award simply because of this question.

Harden and the Rockets were a great story, and their historic three-point onslaught was leaps and bounds ahead of last season's team in terms of watchability. But at no point did it feel like Houston was THE story of the league, due in no small part to the Dubs and Spurs putting together 60-win seasons.

OKC didn't even sniff those three teams in the win column, but if you're looking for the face of the NBA in 2016-17, it was Russell Westbrook. As random a factor as that sounds, that has to matter when selecting the MVP. The award is meant for the player who stood out the most that season, so when people 50 years from now look back on NBA history, they know who was the NBA's alpha male of each particular season.

No one will ever forget Westbrook's triple-double season, regardless of whether or not he wins the award. That almost makes it tempting to vote for Harden since it'd be a pity for another MVP-caliber season to be forgotten by the history books when Russ' year will be remembered no matter what.

But just because Harden has been deserving of two MVP awards doesn't mean he has to win one. Plenty of unforgettable seasons have fallen short of an MVP award. It's truly unfortunate the Beard may experience that feeling twice in a three-year span, but Westbrook was the face of the NBA this season.

Advantage: Westbrook

Apr 16, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) reacts after a play in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Flaws In MVP Case

What would an NBA debate be without acknowledging the flaws in each candidate's MVP case?

For Harden, he missed the third-most field goals in the NBA this season (859) and committed the most turnovers (464). Westbrook, however, missed the most field goals in the league by a massive margin (1,117) and was right behind the Beard in turnovers with 438, the second-most in the association. Those come pretty close to cancelling out.

The biggest knock against Harden's MVP case is how much more help he had. True enough, the Rockets had three rotation players shoot better than 37 percent from three-point range — Ryan Anderson, Patrick Beverley and Ryan Anderson — on a collective 20.1 attempts per game.

OKC's only two players to shoot at least 37 percent from three-point range? Alex Abrines and Jeramy Grant, neither of which played at least 20 minutes per game for the Thunder this year and combined for just 5.1 attempts per game.

But even though Harden clearly had more spacing and three-point threats to work with, there's some kind of misconception that the Rockets' record-setting three-point season was efficient. Houston ranked 15th in three-point percentage (35.7 percent), but they made so many because they took nearly eight more threes per game than the next closest team.

Without Harden there to orchestrate Mike D'Antoni's three-point heavy attack, a revolutionary offense would have decayed into downright reckless territory. There's a reason Houston got so many quality, open looks: Harden's ability to freeze a defense with his hesitation drives and zip perfect passes to the open man.

Are we sure a starting five of Beverley, Gordon, Trevor Ariza, Ryan Anderson and Clint Capela would've been good enough for the playoffs without Harden leading the charge? I'm not. He had more help than Westbrook, but let's not act like anyone in Houston was anything more than a role player put in the perfect position by the Beard's exceptional playmaking.

As for Russ' flaws, the biggest knock on him was his team's win total, but again, it's not like the Thunder were some scrub team. Anthony Davis conjured up legitimate MVP chatter in 2015, and his team barely snuck into the postseason as the 8-seed with 45 wins.

Westbrook's team won 47 games, earned the 6-seed and the man averaged a triple-double. If there were ever a case to ignore the arbitrary "3-seed and above" qualification everyone keeps throwing around in this MVP debate, it'd be this kind of scenario right here.

The other main flaw in Brodie's MVP case is the allegation that he was padding his stats. You wouldn't have to look far to see instances where his teammates deferred to him on an easy rebound, or when Russ seemed to be hunting for assists to finish off a triple-double late in games.

I'd counter with this: So? Even if the man was hunting for triple-doubles down the stretch of the season, there's a reason no one has done it for an entire season since Oscar: It's damn near impossible. If every player in the NBA abandoned the team concept and cared only about getting a triple-double, how many could actually pull it off anyway? LeBron James? Maybe James Harden? Maybe Draymond Green or Kevin Durant?

There's also the case that Westbrook grabbing those easy rebounds was a boon for his teammates, who were able to get out and run around him as Russ went from zero to 60 in a heartbeat to ignite the fast break:

As someone who witnessed Westbrook fishing for assists late in a game against the Phoenix Suns firsthand, I cannot deny there were games where Brodie was looking to pad his stats. But to doubt that winning ever came anything but first for one of the NBA's most maniacal competitors is laughable, and even if he was stat-padding, that was the greatest effing stat-padding season of all time.

Harden gets the edge here though, if only because you can still knock Russ for his team's inferior success, his high number of turnovers, his ghastly number of missed shots, and his penchant for getting a little too in the zone to where he didn't trust teammates late in games.

Advantage: Harden

Jan 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) hugs Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) after the Rockets defeated the City Thunder at Toyota Center. Houston Rockets won 118 to 116. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports

The Verdict

After going through 10 different categories of varying importance, Russell Westbrook and James Harden are tied at 5-5.

Like most every other NBA writer, I've waffled back and forth on this final choice dozens of times. Until the last month of the season, I had Harden comfortably ahead in one of the NBA's tightest MVP races ever. Then Russ hit the nitrous and recency bias aside, this is a damned good contest.

Picking Harden over Russ rewards team success, impact, improved leadership, efficiency and yes, even defense. Picking Russ over Harden rewards a historic albeit arbitrary feat, big numbers, value and narrative. There's no wrong answer here, though one side will clearly be devastated after putting together one of the best non-MVP seasons of all time.

Oscar didn't win MVP in his triple-double season, but that should hardly be relevant here. It was a very different league back then, and players voted on the award in a time when Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain still owned the NBA.

My head says James Harden. My heart says Russell Westbrook. My stomach says it's not feeling so hot, and my fingers are just typing words now because my brain can't handle thinking about this decision anymore.

The Verdict: Russell Westbrook

Again, you can't go wrong here. This is arguably the best MVP race in league history, so if co-MVPs was an option, that'd be the way to go.

If I had a vote and were forced to choose, I'd probably put Harden at No. 1, Westbrook at No. 2 and Kawhi at No. 3. But since I don't, and since the votes are already in, no one should be surprised when Russ — neck-and-neck with Harden in almost every way — wins the 2016-17 MVP Award.

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