Steph Curry. Teams have to alter their entire defensive coverage rules to guard him. That's MVP in my books.

Harden or Westbrook are all obviously good choices, but Steph has them beat. The guy basically doesn't even play 4th quarters any more because he's so good in the first 3 that games are blown out entirely.

Curry would be a deserving winner but it's Westbrook for me, OKC are stuffed without him.
The guys a Triple Double machine and he's probably the most athletic player in the League.

there really is no wrong answer between curry , harden and westbrook.

lebron if he had this form all year long.



as has been said , curry's production on a points basses equal to the others if you look at a points per minute basis , they just play more minutes down the stretch because they have to to win games where golden state a) put games away early , b) have so much talent they can run their b-team against a -teams and not sink.



for me if you look at players whose production is so close , you should give it to the guy who is leading his team to a 60+win season.

i don't think that okc being stuffed without westbrook isn't a big + for him. i don't see how that points to him having a better season than curry. just okc having a poorer team. if anything it shows that westbrook takes more of the teams shots. don't get me wrong , westbrook has had a season worthy of winning mvp. its just curry probably just pips him.

Westbrook has been pretty terrible on D this year, but obviously his numbers and effort are just ridiculous. A worthy winner.

A number I haven't seen before in the history of the league: shooting 44% off threes with the majority coming off the dribble and under contest, while hoisting 8 or 9 of them a game. That is entirely unprecedented. People are talking about actually changing the rules of the game to stop Steph (moving the 3pt line out), which is unheard of for a skinny PG. Rule changes have always come in to stop a dominant centre (Mikan, Kareem, Shaq, etc.).

All three of these guys are anomalies though, so I wouldn't mind if any of them nabbed it, but for me it's Steph. He makes my jaw drop more than any of these guys, which is saying something because Russ is one of the freakiest humans to ever play this beautiful game.

I hate Harden because I can't stand watching him shoot free throws and use the referees to his advantage, but he is obviously carrying this team to a great record in the loaded west, which also makes him a worthy winner, possibly more so than Russ when you consider how many wins this Rockets team has. People are forgetting they are the two seed right now. He's carrying a roster that's barely better than OKC's to the 2 seed by himself.

And if you want to talk about people carrying shitty teams: The Brow has to be a candidate if they sneak into that 8 seed.

His numbers have been all-time this year, which makes him as worthy a candidate as Russ if the W-L column is equal (ie. both having outstanding/all-timer individual statistical seasons on middling teams). Davis' 30.8 PER ranks 11th ALL TIME.

So to conclude: if you want just freaky numbers (on a middling team or not), duke it out between Davis and Westbrook. Both are having all time individual seasons.

If you want "who is leading their team that would otherwise suck" it goes to Harden, because he's led them to the freaking 2 seed in the West and that team is not very good. Westbrook is leading a similarly shitty team to the 8th or 9th spot. Harden wins out here.

If you want "best player on best team" who is also dropping freaky numbers and straight up dominating when he is on the floor, it's Steph. This Warriors team is putting together one of the ALL TIME dominant regular seasons, and he is the head of the snake.

So depends how you wanna call it, but I'm going with Steph.

And Lebron is out because he mailed in the first third (half?) of the season to a borderline comical extent.

Chris Paul doesn't get enough love.

Harden for me, as someone has said curry plays so little in the last quarter because he has a ridiculously stacked team around him. Bogut possible DPOY, draymond green too, then klay and Iggy alongside him.

Harden has kept Houston as one of the best teams in the west while Howard has been out for ages. No Beverley either for a long time.

MVPs don't shoot 5 of 20 so Westbrooks out.

Harden or Curry both deserve it but money's on Harden

It's Harden for me. When we're talking about the Most Valuable to a team, there is no doubting that Harden is exactly that. He has been without Dwight and Terrence Jones for large parts of the year, but he has still led them to the second seed in the toughest Western Conference ever. He has carried them all the way there without any help.

Meanwhile Curry has been great, but Golden State might still be a playoff team without him, considering the amount of depth and talent they have, as well as the coach of the year.

Westbrook doesn't cut it for me, because they are about to lose their 4th straight and if you don't make the playoffs, I don't think you should get MVP. But since the Pelicans look likely to make it now, I think Anthony Davis deserves a look at MVP, for the same reasons as Harden.

If LBJ didn't take two weeks off during the middle of the season, he might be in the discussion too, but his stats or wins don't match the likes of Harden, Davis or Curry.

Bogut

Steph Curry, watch the Warriors with him on the court and then with him on the bench. Or more so watch the difference in the defense. He scares opponents.

It's a 3 horse race, but Anthony Davis is having a crazy good year and the pellies are in the 8th seed atm, if you take him off this team and theyre an early lottery team

Best Player on Best Team : Curry

Most Valuable Player: Harden

Best Stats: Westbrook (May not make playoffs)

Best All Round Player: Lebron (2 Half)

Best Player but on a bad Team: Davis

If the Rockets finish 2nd I'd have to go with Harden even though I still can't stand the draws contact.

The way he draws contact*

lol... Mick gave the correct answer in the first paragraph of the first post.

As dominant as Harden and Westbrook have been for the better part of the season, the impact that Curry has had on the league's best team is undeniable.

Whether he 'will' win the MVP, however, is up in the air: journalists need contenders to support their narrative, and fans want to drool over gaudy (raw) numbers, highlight plays and an impressive beard/face mask.

But if that's what floats your boat, let this jog your memory:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cP54guVj_XE

i dont really agree with harden carrying the rockets, I know howard has been out but they have a terrific defensive team that really helps harden. Ariza is a quality player, D-Mo is good, Brewer is good, dare i say it josh smith has been good. I know he carries there offense but defensively they have a great group that are underrated.

Everyone talks about curry having a loaded squad but have you seen what happens to their offense when he goes out or doesnt play, its middle of the league. Curry makes that offense work and creates fear in teams like nobody else can, plus when he gets going its the best thing in the NBA. Also curry is second in plus/minus showing his value.

There both having great seasons but curry is the MVP as he is having one hell of a year and it's overstated how good his supporting cast is, whilst it's better than Harden's it still makes a massive difference when curry doesnt play for GSW.

Lebron.

Look at Cleveland & Miami ladder position & compare to this time last year.

Hes the man!!

Curry for me!

More importantly MVA (Most Valuable Aussie)

1. Bogut
2. Baynes
3. Ingles

Here's my vote (gaps between names mean something):

#1 Curry
#2 Harden




#3 Paul


#4 Russ
#5 Davis

Harden has made team mates better, he has made Josh Smith and Donatas Montiejunas viable offensive options. He is able to break down defences easily and can create shots for any other team mate or himself. You take Harden away from the Rockets, they're the worst team in the league this year due to the lack of D12. You take Curry away, the Warriors are still a half decent team, they have depth everywhere and for large parts of the season, Klay Thompson has carried them.

How many assists does Harden average?

Lebron.

Look at Cleveland & Miami ladder position & compare to this time last year.

Hes the man!!

The MVP choice is purely subjective. There can't be an objective winner. Too difficult to cross-compare players.

My selections may shock people.

My contenders are:

- Davis (not really a surprise). Take him out of NOP and NOP is like the Lakers v 2.0

- Lillard: 21,6 and 5. He is the heart and soul of that team. He is a massive factor in them getting 50+ wins.

- Marc Gasol: 17, 8 and 4 and the best defensive big man in the NBA. Great leadership and unselfishness. Gasol got there in 2008 and since then they went from 14th,12th,10th,8th,4th to Western Conference Finals (the same year Gasol won DPOY. Coincidence? Absolutely not).

- John Wall - if you're talking about CP3 as MVP, You gotta mention Wall in the same breath.

- Jimmy Butler - everyone knows Chicago's defence is beastly. Chicago are equal third in opponent FG percentage and have one of the best defensive PPG. What holds them back and what has held them back (even with D-Rose)? Scoring. Butler's 21ppg keeps them in contests; he carries that offense and single-handledly saves them from the offensive inconsistency of the likes of Hinrich, Noah, Dunleavy, Brooks

Kawhi Leonard has shown over the last week that we are witnessing greatness. Destroying sides in 24 minute bursts. GSW didn't know what hit them couple of days back.

Spurs are primed for a repeat.

If he plays healthy next season he will be minimum the best two player in the league perhaps even greater.

Kawhi has looked scary good the last couple of weeks. He has missed too much time to be in contention for end of year awards though IMO.

The Spurs are back, again.

Mick, essentially agree.

Although he has only played I think less 60 games I think he is a red hot chance for DPOY. He clearly is the best perimeter defender in the league, possible the best since Pippen. Lack of games might be the only thing that finds him short for that award this season.

Best defensive big man not named Deandre Jordan...

Rudy Gobert says hello

Gobert top 5 easily, maybe top 3. Half a season of playing 15 minutes a game affects his dpoy winning though. Guys a beast no questions.

Top 5 for me in no order is deandre, Duncan bogut, draymond green and khris Middleton. Don't laugh, look up how important he is to the bucks.

Leonard misses out for missing 16 odd games. If he and Gobert play the entire season they're 1 and 2

"- Lillard: 21,6 and 5. He is the heart and soul of that team. He is a massive factor in them getting 50+ wins."

Lillard isn't even the best player on his team.

I foresee it a year ago. This year is Curry's time.

KAWHI collects another big award. No surprise here.