Why James Harden, Not Stephen Curry Is This Year's NBA MVP

The most overlooked letter in the phrase "MVP" is far and away the one wedged between the "M" and the "P." If the award is to be given to the NBA's most outstanding player, Stephen Curry deserves it. However, Houston's James Harden is the league's most valuable player.

"The Beard" has led the Rockets to a 53-24 record, the third-best mark in the NBA. While Curry is the driving force on a Warriors team that is in first place, it's not as if he's had to play without Klay Thompson or Draymond Green for a lengthy period of time. On the other hand, Harden has played much of this campaign without the second half of Houston's dynamic duo, Dwight Howard, who has only appeared in 37 games this season, per ESPN.com.

Without Harden, the Rockets would almost certainly fall out of playoff contention. According to Basketball-Reference.com's leaderboard, he has a usage percentage of 31.4 percent, which ranks in the top five. Curry is in seventh place.

Usage %
1.	Russell Westbrook ▪ OKC	38.3
2.	Dwyane Wade ▪ MIA	34.7
3.	DeMarcus Cousins ▪ SAC	34.1
4.	LeBron James ▪ CLE	32.5
5.	James Harden ▪ HOU	31.4
6.	LaMarcus Aldridge ▪ POR	30.1
7.	Stephen Curry ▪ GSW	29.0
8.	Chris Bosh ▪ MIA	28.5
9.	DeMar DeRozan ▪ TOR	28.4
10.	Blake Griffin ▪ LAC	28.3

Despite carrying an exorbitant amount of the Rockets offensive load, Harden is thriving. He's pacing Basketball-Reference.com's leaderboard in win shares and trails only Chris Paul in the offensive aspect of that category.

Win Shares
1.	James Harden ▪ HOU	15.7
2.	Chris Paul ▪ LAC	15.1
3.	Stephen Curry ▪ GSW	14.5
4.	Anthony Davis ▪ NOP	12.9
5.	DeAndre Jordan ▪ LAC	11.9

Offensive Win Shares
1.	Chris Paul ▪ LAC	12.1
2.	James Harden ▪ HOU	11.7
3.	Stephen Curry ▪ GSW	10.5
4.	Anthony Davis ▪ NOP	9.1
5.	Kyrie Irving ▪ CLE	8.0

Still not convinced? Then let's highlight the fact that Harden is averaging 27.7 points, 6.9 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game, per NBA.com. ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne recently highlighted how impressive those numbers are.

"

Harden MVP case: Only players to average same pts/ast/reb/stl as Beard has this year are Jordan (1989) Bird (1987) LeBron (2008)

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) April 5, 2015"

Curry has some impressive numbers of his own, including a line of 23.6 points, 7.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game, per ESPN.com. However, Harden's case is more about the context of these statistics.

Golden State is loaded with talent. Curry is flanked by the likes of Thompson, a fellow All-Star, and Green, who, as Bleacher Report's Daniel O'Brien points out, is a top candidate for the 2015 NBA Most Improved Player Award. With Howard on the shelf for much of this season, the most prominent members of Harden's supporting cast have arguably been Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley.

As Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle reported, the latter recently underwent season-ending wrist surgery.

How did Harden respond to losing one of his top four teammates just as another one was finally coming back from injury? By leading the Rockets to wins in six of their last seven games and dumping 51 points on Sacramento and 41 on Oklahoma City in the process, per ESPN.com.

Curry is helping a talented team reach its potential. What Harden is doing goes far beyond that. He is truly the NBA's most valuable player. He's also probably not the one who will win the award signifying it.