Jayson Tatum Says James Harden Should Have Won MVP over Giannis Last Season

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said the Houston Rockets' James Harden should have won the 2019 NBA MVP Award over the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo. 

"James Harden should have won MVP last year," Tatum said Tuesday during an Instagram Live session. "... He definitely should have won back-to-back MVPs."

Antetokounmpo was overwhelmingly selected by the media. He was placed atop 78 of the 101 ballots following the 2018-19 regular season. Harden finished second with the other 23 first-place votes.

The Rockets' superstar guard had a strong statistical argument to retain his MVP crown, though.

He ranked first among all players in win shares (15.2), box plus-minus (11.0) and value over replacement player (9.3), according to Basketball Reference; Giannis ranked third (14.4), second (10.4) and second (7.4) in those respective categories. Harden also finished second in ESPN's real plus-minus (7.42), two spots ahead of Antetokounmpo.

Here's a look at their per-game averages last year:

• Harden: 36.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 7.5 APG, 2.0 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 4.8 3PG, 44.2 FG%
• Giannis: 27.7 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 1.5 3PG, 57.8 FG%

Antetokounmpo did lead the Bucks to the best record in the NBA at 60-22. The Rockets finished seven games behind at 53-29.

They exchanged barbs in February about their styles of play.

"I wish I could be 7 feet, run and just dunk. That takes no skill at all," Harden told ESPN's Rachel Nichols. "I gotta actually learn how to play basketball and how to have skill. I'll take that any day."

Giannis responded:

"My game is not just power for sure. I came in when I was 18, I was 180 pounds, so to power through big guys was kind of tough.

"But obviously, it's going to be times where you've got to power through guys. Like one of the best players, LeBron [James], Michael Jordan, Kobe [Bryant] and all those guys ... Shaq [O'Neal], all those guys, they were extremely physical with their play. They made their presence felt in the paint, but obviously I try to work on my game, midrange shots, 3s, being able to screen and roll faster and make the right pass."

All told, both players put together a strong case to win last year's MVP and are once again among the chief contenders for the league's top individual honor in 2020.