Russell Westbrook and James Harden Are Close, but LeBron James Is MVP So Far

CLEVELAND — Some would consider the 2016-17 NBA MVP race a two-candidate competition between Houston Rockets guard James Harden and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, but the familiar force of LeBron James has slowly risen above both.

Westbrook and Harden have been fantastic, but only James deserves the title of the league’s most valuable player right now.

We’ve never seen anything like this No. 23 before. Now in Year No. 14, the three-time NBA champion may be putting together his best overall season.

James is averaging 25.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 50.8 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three. He’s putting up career-best assist numbers while sporting his second-highest rebounding and three-point shooting marks.

Only Oscar Robertson has averaged at least 25.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists over the course of a season in league history. While Westbrook and Harden are also checking all three boxes, James and Robertson would be the only two to do so while shooting better than 50 percent, per B/R Insights.

No player, not even Robertson, has achieved these kinds of numbers over the age of 30; James would become the first.

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“And as far as a comparison between him and Jordan, the comparison I have is when you’re on top, the best player in the league for so long and having to carry that each and every year and never get knocked down off that pedestal, that’s a big accomplishment, because guys are coming for you and you’re a target,” head coach Tyronn Lue said.

“And to always stay on top no matter what, always being the best player in the league, that’s how I compare him and Jordan.”

James’ potentially historic numbers put him in the MVP conversation, but it’s his value to the team and the Cavaliers’ success that makes him the front-runner for the award.

Measuring James’ Value

The true test of a player’s value to a team in any sport is how that squad performs with and without said player. The Cavs couldn’t look any more different with and without James.

Cleveland has been a powerhouse since James returned in 2014, reaching the NBA Finals in 2015 before winning it all in 2016. Their 26-7 record leads the Eastern Conference once again, trailing the Golden State Warriors by three games for the best overall mark.

When James doesn’t play, however, the Cavs have fallen apart.

Cleveland is 0-3 this season and 4-18 overall when James doesn’t play since he returned to the franchise. That winning percentage of .182 would be worse (by far) than any NBA team this season. In games this year where Kevin Love or Kyrie Irving sits and James plays, the Cavs are 5-0. Even on a team with Irving and Love, everything runs through James.

“We still have enough talent to win—that goes without saying,” Love said, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “But …

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