This is one of the most difficult years in memory for picking an MVP. Who should win? Curry?

Harden is easily the most valuable. No one else is close.

I love Harden (favorite player to watch) and think he should be the MVP, but I have a feeling that Curry is going to win. Best player on best team usually takes it. I would love to be wrong though!

Curry will win but should be Harden. Yeah I'm a bias Rockets fan but Harden had to step up his game to have the Rockets where are they are now. Curry's number are almost similar to last year so his play this season isn't the reason the team is about 20 wins better.

Curry will win.

My personal opinion would be Lebron James. I know Miami lost Bosh, but the reason for the reversal of Cleveland and Miami's success is pretty obvious.

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Curry will win.

My personal opinion would be Lebron James. I know Miami lost Bosh, but the reason for the reversal of Cleveland and Miami's success is pretty obvious.

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That is a aspect about LeBron that won't be enough for him to even get on a lot of ballots. Cleveland goes from the bottom of the league to 2nd in their conference.

Steph Curry will win for the mere fact that he is more likeable than James Harden from a fan/media perspective (whatever that means). That factor overrides all other factors.

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Steph Curry will win for the mere fact that he is more likeable than James Harden from a fan/media perspective (whatever that means). That factor overrides all other factors.

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He also the best player on the team with the most wins

I wonder if in the next decade, people will discuss why LeBron didn't get the MVP and Curry did, much like the discussions now occur whenever Jordan didn't win or when Nash did.


My prediction on voting:

1. Curry
2. Harden
3. Lebron
4. Russ
5. Anthony Davis

If Pelicans make playoffs, and Davis has some great or exciting play, I could see that being enough of a reason to propel him to 4th. Maybe.

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Curry will win.

My personal opinion would be Lebron James. I know Miami lost Bosh, but the reason for the reversal of Cleveland and Miami's success is pretty obvious.

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I agree. I said before that Curry would win but Lebron is at #2

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Curry will win.

My personal opinion would be Lebron James. I know Miami lost Bosh, but the reason for the reversal of Cleveland and Miami's success is pretty obvious.

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I agree. I said before that Curry would win but Lebron is at #2

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Well if you said so then we should just lock this thread up. Nothing else to discuss

Curry is the best player on the best team in basketball. He will win.

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My personal opinion would be Lebron James. I know Miami lost Bosh, but the reason for the reversal of Cleveland and Miami's success is pretty obvious.

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This. Take Curry or Harden, and put them in Lebron's place, and it wouldn't be the same impact.

LeBron is the best player on the planet.
Curry is a blast to watch and the best player on the best team.
Harden arguably is the most valuable to his team.

Any of those three could win it.

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I wonder if in the next decade, people will discuss why LeBron didn't get the MVP and Curry did, much like the discussions now occur whenever Jordan didn't win or when Nash did.

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Not the same situation at all. Jordan was by far the best player in the league. Jordan was on a team that went 69-13. They were destroying everyone and nobody else in the league was anywhere near his level. They just didn't want to give it to him.

Lebron is on a team that would be in 7th place if it played in the west. He probably is still the best player in the league but Curry, Davis, and Harden deserve to be in that conversation. Don't forget that the Cavs also added Kevin Love, a bunch of role players, and a competent coach. The Heat lost James, Allen, a bunch of role players and Chris Bosh for half a season. The change was more than just James. If the Heat had Allen and a full season of Bosh they are possibly competing for the 3rd-5th place slots in the East

This is more like when Magic started to get old as MJ was just entering his prime in the early 90's.

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I wonder if in the next decade, people will discuss why LeBron didn't get the MVP and Curry did, much like the discussions now occur whenever Jordan didn't win or when Nash did.

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Lebron is on a team that would be in 7th place if it played in the west.

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why do people say this? Hypotheticals are stupid. No one knows what they would actually do in the west, just like no one knows what a west team would do in the east. Look at the heat and cavs last year compared to this year. The guy is truly the most valuable player in the NBA every year.

However, for this season, it should go to MVB, but it'll go to curry instead

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why do people say this? Hypotheticals are stupid. No one knows what they would actually do in the west, just like no one knows what a west team would do in the east.

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They do play inter-conference games, so we do know:
Cavs against the West - 18-12

Records of Top 10 Teams in West vs. the East:
GS - 25-5
SA - 23-7
LAC - 19-11
Portland - 20-10
Rockets - 23-7
Memphis - 19-10
Dallas - 21-9
NO - 16-14
OKC - 20-10
Phoenix - 18-12

The Cavs record is inflated because they play in the East, If anything you could argue they would be even worse than the 7 seed because it's inflated.

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why do people say this? Hypotheticals are stupid. No one knows what they would actually do in the west, just like no one knows what a west team would do in the east.

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They do play inter-conference games, so we do know:
Cavs against the West - 18-12

Records of Top 10 Teams in West vs. the East:
GS - 25-5
SA - 23-7
LAC - 19-11
Portland - 20-10
Rockets - 23-7
Memphis - 19-10
Dallas - 21-9
NO - 16-14
OKC - 20-10
Phoenix - 18-12

The Cavs record is inflated because they play in the East, If anything you could argue they would be even worse than the 7 seed because it's inflated.

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Or you can't truely argue it because its basically a hypothetical

It always takes teams a little time to gel with huge roster turnover. The Cavs closed the season 33-9 including wins over the Clippers x2, Bulls with Rose, Thunder, Blazers, Spurs, Warriors, Raptors, Mavs, and Grizzlies. Does anyone think they come remotely close to that without Lebron?

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12692397/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-makes-77-consecutive-3-pointers-practice

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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12692397/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-makes-77-consecutive-3-pointers-practice

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Call me crazy but this sorta thing sounds like something to help pump MVP talk/buzz

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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12692397/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-makes-77-consecutive-3-pointers-practice

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Call me crazy but this sorta thing sounds like something to help pump MVP talk/buzz

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So we're gonna give the MVP to someone based on how many 3's they can make in a row in practice?

Ok, I'm calling you crazy, just as you asked

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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12692397/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-makes-77-consecutive-3-pointers-practice

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Call me crazy but this sorta thing sounds like something to help pump MVP talk/buzz

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So we're gonna give the MVP to someone based on how many 3's they can make in a row in practice?

Ok, I'm calling you crazy, just as you asked

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There's no need to be act like a 17 year old girl.

If you know anything about sports and today's media in regards to MVP and the Heisman talk you know better

Do you honestly think that practice results impacts MVP voting?

I feel like Iverson right now. Practice??! C'mon man

Curry may very well win the MVP, and rightfully so. He's had a great season. But I can damn sure promise you it won't have anything to do with how well he plays in practice

Bias, not deciding factor.

No one will consciously think "I'm going to vote for Steph Curry because he made a bunch of shots in practice". However, it'll make the rounds and everyone, including voters, will unavoidably add another piece to the narrative of Steph Curry's virtuosity. It won't be a deciding factor or anything like that (he's the strong favorite anyway), but it could and probably will introduce a small amount of bias.

Should Harden be less likely to win the MVP because he got one shot blocked, even if it was at the end of a really big game? Not really, but it had a material impact anyway, a lot more than the anecdote we're talking about. That is partly because people overweight the "clutch" concept, but it's partly because they are going to see him get stuffed on ESPN 100 times between the game and the vote. He still had an incredible season; one of the top 5-8 players of all time getting fingertips on a layup shouldn't count against him, but the piece added to the mental narrative is "and then James Harden's team lost and dropped three spots in the standings because he failed on the last, most important possession."

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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12692397/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-makes-77-consecutive-3-pointers-practice

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Call me crazy but this sorta thing sounds like something to help pump MVP talk/buzz

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So we're gonna give the MVP to someone based on how many 3's they can make in a row in practice?

Ok, I'm calling you crazy, just as you asked

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They gave the DPOY to Artest and Carlisle was pumping some weird made up stat that was later proven to be false. All about the narrative right now.

Whatever you can to get the trophy, I guess.

I may be mis-remembering this, but I believe Zach Lowe commented on the fact that the Warriors had the best offensive AND defensive efficiency in the league when Steph Curry was on the court, yet had a negative scoring differential when he was on the bench. That, combined with the "best player on a historically great team in the toughest conference ever" tag, makes him the MVP. It doesn't hurt that he's a transcendentally exciting player to watch.

I have a hard time giving it to Harden, given that the Rockets would trade Harden for LeBron in a heartbeat. It's hard to reward a player just for being on a team with no other scoring options, especially when other players could do a better job and give an effort on both halves of the floor. If, however, the award is to be given to the "player whose team would suffer the most if he were replaced with a league average player at his position", you have to give it to Harden. He is, after all, the most valuable player under that definition.

LeBron is the only player that could be put on virtually any team and instantly make them a playoff team or potentially a title contender. He is far and away the best player in the league, and we will eventually look back on his lack of MVP years in the same way we look at Jordan's. He did miss a bunch of time this year, though, and it took his team several months to gel, so I'm willing to give way to Curry this year.

Ulrich gets it. Read his response

Im a rockets fan and I think Curry should win it. Ill steal Zach Lowe's argument from grantland:

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Curry inspires terror even when he doesn't have the ball. Teams exhale when Harden passes it, or even when he's just standing on the wing while the offense unfolds elsewhere.... Harden's a good shooter, but not a great one; defenses don't hug him like they do Curry or Kyle Korver when he doesn't have the rock. Defenses can't give Curry an inch of breathing room, not ever, and Steve Kerr leverages that paranoia in smart ways.

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Entire Article

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My prediction on voting:

1. Curry
2. Harden
3. Lebron
4. Russ
5. Anthony Davis

If Pelicans make playoffs, and Davis has some great or exciting play, I could see that being enough of a reason to propel him to 4th. Maybe.

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Please don't use my post above as evidence that I am a wizard or sorcerer.
Nor the pictures of me playing quidditch, nor the one of me hanging out with a lady dressed up as Guinevere, nor the ones with me leading little Hobbits around mountains.

But here are the final votes:

1. Curry
2. Harden
3. Lebron
4. Russ
5. Anthony Davis
6. CP3

7. LA
8. M Gasol
9. Duncan
10. Kawhi
11. Klay

Amazing a guy could lead the league in blocks and PER, top 5 in points, top ten in rebounds and barely make top 5 in the MVP vote.