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#pounditThursday, March 28, 2024

James Harden: I’m the best player in the league

James Harden cookin

The 2015-2016 NBA season is still weeks from tipping off, but at least two players have already decided that they know where the next MVP trophy is going.

Last week, it was Paul George who said he feels there isn’t a single player in the league who is better than him at the moment. In a recent feature from Fran Blinebury of NBA.com, James Harden respectfully disagreed.

“I am the best player in the league. I believe that,” the Houston Rockets star said. “I thought I was last year, too.”

Stephen Curry won the NBA MVP Award last season, and his credentials were tough to debate. He validated the decision by leading the Golden State Warriors to an NBA championship. Harden’s 27.4 points per game were more than Curry’s 23.8. Their assist numbers were comparable at 7.0 for Harden and 7.7 for Curry, and Curry averaged 32.7 minutes per contest compared with Harden’s 36.8.

Harden thinks his performance was enough to win MVP, but he has vowed to be even better this season.

“You don’t think I can do more?” he asked. “Just wait. I’ll show you. I know I was the MVP. That’s 100 percent given all the things that happened last season. But that award means most valuable to your team. We finished second in the West, which nobody thought we were going to do at the beginning of the year even when everybody was healthy. We were near the top in having the most injuries. We won our division in a division where every single team made the playoffs.

“There’s so many factors. I led the league in total points scored, minutes played. Like I said, I’m not taking anything away from Steph, but I felt I deserved the Most Valuable Player. That stays with me.”

I guess LeBron james is out of the running. The MVP race only involves two men this season — Harden and George. The rest can just sit back and enjoy the show.

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