James Harden is having a heck of a year for the Houston Rockets, averaging a league best 27.6 ppg. The 25-year-old, who almost certainly will be selected to the 2015 NBA All Star Game, is NBA.com’s Sam Smith’s mid-season MVP.
Most Valuable Player: James Harden, Houston Rockets
It’s a more wide open race this season because the two best players in the NBA, LeBron James and Kevin Durant, have been dealing with injuries, rest and rotating rosters. By the end of the season one of them could be back on top. There’s no formula for the award, though it generally goes to the best or top player whose team is having the best season. That general definition best describes the Warriors Stephen Curry. I’d have no argument with his selection, but I go for Harden as the single most impressive player this season.
[AdSense-A]His team has been very good, if not quite great, with injuries up and down the roster while he probably is the single most difficult player to stop, assuming, of course, James and Durant are not fully involved. Harden has tried to play some defense, no one gets to the free throw line as effectively and he regularly makes big shots and leads the league in scoring for a team with basically no other shot maker or hardly anyone else to guard. I have Curry second, then James third—though he could be first or second by season’s end—LaMarcus Aldridge fourth and John Wall fifth.
See Sam Smith’s other mid-season awards including Coach of the Year, Most Improved and Rookie of the Year.
[NBA.com]
