NBA MVP debates: Why Harden v Giannis feels so hard to pick a winner.

Let's get this out of the way. I'm a massive Rockets fan. My dad is from Houston. My family lived in Nigeria while I was growing up and I was born in 1993 right as the Hakeem led mini dynasty was launching. I'm honestly still shocked that my dad didn't name me Hakeem. So naturally I love Harden. At the same time I still want to give props to Giannis Antetokounmpo for this years tear that he's on.

To start off Both players are pulling no punches this year. Honestly anything you use to poke holes in one's game are either false completely or could be turned back around and used on the other. We've seen where people are like "This is overwhelming stats versus 'best player on the best team'" (not an actual quote but it's the general narrative). When it's really "Guy A on an overwhelming team that had some injuries so he put up massive numbers to keep them afloat" vs "Guy B who's team hasn't faced as much adversity so he's playing in first gear and still putting up stats."

If I'm going to be honest I'm not worried about either guy having a "Dirk Nowitzki" moment where they win MVP but get bounced in the first round. However, I'm a little concerned with their recent playoff performances. Giannis lets people under his skin a lot and Harden has a tendency to get banged up/gassed/possibly concussed in the playoffs.

If we look at their stats we can see that both had phenomenal regular seasons.

Harden:

36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.7 blocks a game on .616 TS and a 11.7 +/-, with a PER of 30.6

Giannis:

27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.5 blocks a game with a .644 TS, a 10.8 +/-, and a PER of 30.9

Let's take a look at how crazy those stats are historically. There are only 23 players who have ever put up a PER over 30. This year is the only year with multiple people who've done it. Ironically Anthony Davis joins this group but you don't get considered for MVP when you whine like he has all year. Harden put up the greatest scoring season since the NBA/ABA merger on a per possession basis. Giannis put up top ten numbers in points, rebounds and blocks. Harden Was top ten in points, assists and steals.

Why does this feel so hard for people to pick. At a glance Hardens numbers look a lot better but Giannis team won more. It's important to note that the NBA is feeling like a different place this year with the fact that LeBron James isn't even in the playoffs. The Bucks won 7 more games. They did however have a much easier schedule than the Rockets.

This whole argument will be seen as a referendum on the stylistic differences between Harden and Giannis. Harden plays slow, methodically and calculates all his moves analytically. Giannis is a highlight factory the likes of we have never seen in the NBA. There will be people who want Giannis to win solely because they don't like the aesthetics of Harden's game. Likewise there will be people who want Harden to win because quite frankly the East was so bad this year that the Pacers have a top five record and were missing their best player for half the season.

No matter what you think about these two players there should be a sense of wonder in what happened this season between the two. James harden was stuck in the hole of "he won his already" then he dragged himself back into this conversation. Giannis was stuck in the "how are we going to make this guy MVP when his team isn't any good" and boy what a difference that coaching change made.

I personally believe Harden should win. I think the voters will select Giannis. Harden has always lost the vote when someone else plays anywhere near him so I don't expect this to be any different. I expect the Press MVP to go to Giannis and the Players Choice to be Harden by a large margin. Either way I'm hoping this is the finals matchup!