Who will be the NBA MVP for 2017?

• Russell Westbrook
• James Harden

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As the end of the regular season approaches the NBA MVP must be crowned however, this year is different from last year’s unanimous MVP, Stephen Curry. What do you do when even the analysts are torn between the triple-double machine, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, who is orchestrating his team to be a contender in the West?

Russell Westbrook to any person is an obvious pick for this year’s KIA MVP award. He is on track to be the 2^nd player in NBA history to average a triple-double sharing that title with Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson all while dragging his team the OKC Thunder to the playoffs to land them the 6^th seed. Not only that but he is currently leading the league in scoring (31.4). He is also sitting at a hefty 36 triple doubles this season surpassing the likes of Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan, need I say more?

James Harden, like Russell Westbrook, is also having the best season of his career placing him in contention with Russ for the MVP award. Right behind Russell Westbrook in scoring is who? You guessed it James Harden (29.4). Not only that but he is leading the league in assists (11.3) as well. The Beard is even partaking in triple doubles collecting 19 of his own, passing Magic Johnson for most triple doubles in one season. These stats reflect in his team placing the Rockets at #3 in the West.

With their case being stated, it leaves analysts wondering. Should the award be given to a person who is leading their team to wins or to a player recording a historic season. This could relay back to the controversial 1962 MVP Race where the winner Bill Russell put up 19 points and 23.6 rebounds per game.

Despite these amazing stats there were people such as Oscar Robertson who finished that season averaging a record setting triple double and Wilt Chamberlain who broke the NBA record in points per game at 50.4 which to this day has not been broken. These people were phenomenal in what they were doing but they never considered a “tie”. In the end, it went to Bill Russell because his Celtics were untouchable and would dominate the league, he was the most valuable player.

“We might see our first co-MVPs this year,” said Kobe Bryant, the 2008 NBA MVP, in an ESPN interview that now poses a question few have even begun to fathom. Should there be co-MVPS this season? Can the players handle that? More importantly, can the fans handle that?

When you propose two MVP’s you should expect severe backlash from the community. Not only that but it could remove the competitive nature found in the league when players assume hard work isn’t rewarded properly.

As a result of trying to appease both players you would degrade them in the process. In the end, there is one player who goes above and beyond the average superstar and that is the sole person who should win Most Valuable Player. So best of luck to James Harden and Russell Westbrook, may the best player win.