Russell Westbrook 'Not Sure' Whether James Harden Will Win 2018 NBA MVP
Defending NBA MVP Russell Westbrook acknowledged that his former teammate James Harden is having a superb season, but when asked if it was Harden's turn to win the MVP, Westbrook didn't offer a take.
"I'm not sure," he said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. "Obviously he's having a good year, a great year. Their team has the best record in the NBA. I'm not sure."
Westbrook added: "Nah, I don't have a pick. There's a lot of guys doing a lot of great things in the league. Honestly, I don't know kind of what you go off of, because MVP's kind of been picked differently every year. So it depends what criteria, what it is that you guys vote for. But obviously he's leading the charge at the moment."
Harden (NBA-best 30.6 PPG, 8.7 APG) appears to be the front-runner for MVP this season, with LeBron James (27.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 9.2 APG) his closest competition. Certainly, there is a debate to be had between the two:
"Yeah, he's definitely an MVP this year," Scott Brooks, Harden's former head coach in Oklahoma City and current Washington Wizards coach, said of the Houston point guard, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. "He's played well and his team is playing the best in basketball, but you can always argue LeBron can get it every year."
Westbrook himself is putting up gaudy numbers, threatening to average another triple-double for a season while posting 25.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and a league-leading 10.1 assists per game, though the Thunder are just 45-34, a disappointing mark considering their offseason additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
Harden, meanwhile, has led the Rockets to a league-best 64-15 record, while James has dragged one of the weakest rosters he's headlined in years to a 49-31 mark.
Westbrook and Harden are no strangers to the MVP conversation. The former won the award last year after averaging a triple-double for the season (31.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 10.4 APG), the first player to do so since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 campaign. The latter posted nearly as impressive numbers (29.1 PPG, 11.2 APG, 8.1 RPG) and led the Rockets to eight more wins than the Thunder compiled, though voters ultimately sided with Westbrook.
This year, it seems more likely that the voters will side with Harden over the field.
