Here’s how hard it is to win the NBA MVP this season. You’re in the running. You’ve done spectacular things all season showing people facets of your game they didn’t realize you had — like Magic Johnson-style ball distribution. Your name is James Harden and your Houston Rockets are 54-26, third place in the brutally tough Western Conference. And with just a few games left you put up the following numbers in a win over Sacramento: 35 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds. Oh and you’ve played every game.
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And guess what? In another arena a guy named Russell Westbrook, fellow MVP candidate, hits a buzzer beating game winner, his 50th point of the night, and records his 42nd triple double of the season smashing Oscar Robertson’s 1961-62 record on his way to — like the Big O — averaging a triple double for the season. Westbrook adds 16 rebounds and ten assists. If you’re LeBron James, another candidate for MVP, you just say this:
Congrats to the Brodie @russwest44 on setting the record!!! #WhyNot #42 #StriveForGreatness?
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 9, 2017
If you’re James Harden, you just try to go Russ one better next game. The Clippers should have their hands full with The Beard tonight in LA. After What Westbrook just did, Harden is going to have to steal the MVP if he wants it.
