James Harden Holds off LeBron James, Anthony Davis for MVP in B/R Illustration

Houston Rockets guard James Harden was named NBA MVP for the first time in his career during Monday's awards show at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.        

He beat out both Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James and New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis for the honor.    

After finishing second to Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook in the voting last year, Harden took his game to new heights in 2017-18.

He led the league in scoring with 30.4 points per game to go along with averages of 8.8 assists and 5.4 rebounds, and he was the driving force behind Houston's NBA-best record at 65-17.