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Interestingly, the top-three that year seemed to descend in terms of how impressive their statistical resumes were: Robertson and his ridiculous triple-double average came in third; Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 points (!) and 25 rebounds, but finished in second; Bill Russell won the award despite averaging just 19 points per game and 24 rebounds per contest.
In most years, Leonard would be an easy pick to win the award.
In the penultimate regular-season game of his career, Pierce crafted a vintage performance.
Yesterday, we evaluated Russell Westbrook's MVP candidacy in relation to James Harden's.
Harden is my MVP this season, as he led the NBA in assists with 11.2 per game (per Basketball Reference). But there's a reason why James doesn't win MVP and Gregg Popovich doesn't earn Coach of the Year every season - they're season awards, not generational honours. He should have been getting more mainstream media support for the award throughout the season. A mark about a true MVP is that he makes his teammates around him better, catalyzing the effort to accumulate wins.
Westbrook did the unexpected. I honestly never thought I'd see someone average a triple-double.
Harden did the unexpected.
In one corner: Oklahoma City's Westbrook, who averaged the league's second ever triple-double with dizzying numbers of 31.6 points per game, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists for the Thunder.
LeBron James did the unexpected. Westbrook has had a record-shattering year, recording 42 triple-doubles (and counting!) and averaging 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per game.
Janet Jackson 'splits from husband'
She even stopped contacting with her fans on social media, who were really anxious of her unexpected disappearance. The 50 year old later surprised fans after confirming she was pregnant with their first child, last October.
In the West, the Warriors caught a late-season rhythm but did so mostly without prized off-season acquisition Kevin Durant, who missed 19 games with a knee sprain and is being reinserted into the lineup on the fly.
Even Isaiah Thomas, a long-shot MVP candidate, did the unexpected. His interior defense and excellent work on the glass were the main factors in Utah allowing the fewest points per game of any team this season.
In the other: the bearded Harden, who facilitated a surprising Rockets surge to 55 wins while putting up 29.1 points, 11.2 assists and 8.1 rebounds for Houston.
Re-iterating an earlier point, the narrative is at the heart of sports and there really was no better storyline this season than Westbrook.
Leonard has had a spectacular season.
Both teams didn't meet again until March 26, and this one wasn't close as the Rockets won, 137-125, at the Toyota Center. Last year, they were just 15th in that category. Kawhi has kicked up his offensive game to a new level, and took over the leadership aspect of the Spurs behind a roster that really isn't that good. Both having fantastic years.
The Warriors' conference-leading 67 wins match their 2014-15 championship season. If Kawhi's on their best player, suddenly that guy's standing around on the weak side, barely part of any play.
Harden didn't shoot the ball spectacularly, going 9 of 22 from the field, but he did make five 3-pointers while making an array of pretty passes in a game in which six Houston players scored in double figures. However, all eyes will be on Harden and Westbrook. Those numbers from Leonard are not unexpected.
The MVP and runner-up have only met in round one of the playoffs once in National Basketball Association history. Which is why, unless he creates a new angle moving forward, Leonard's 2016 second-place finish in MVP voting may be the peak for him. So let's take a look at some of the wonderful accomplishments Westbrook achieved during this phenomenal campaign.
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