NBA 2019: Who should be MVP - James Harden or Giannis Antetokounmpo?

Conclusion

Harden should be named as the MVP this season

There are a number of factors many consider when declaring who they believe is the MVP. Many think it’s the best player on the best team. Some may say it’s the guy with the best offensive stats.

However, a lot of consideration should go to how that player’s elevated play lifted his team to higher levels. It is absolutely clear that Harden and Antetokounmpo have elevated their teams to places no one expected until the season unfolded.

However, in this case, one player had to overcome adversity and rose to the challenge while the other led a good team with little adversity to speak of to heights not expected.

It is for this reason that James Harden should once again be named the NBA’s 2019 MVP as he was in 2018. Harden simply had to have a 32-game stretch scoring over 30 points a game to pull the Rockets back into the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

There is also the fact that a deep inspection of the stats also reveals Harden, as a single player, is more valuable to his team’s offensive output. He is, by the numbers, 46.5% of the Rockets offensive production nightly while Antetokounmpo represents 37% of the Bucks offensive output.

Any way you decide which player was better and more deserving of being the MVP there is no question the debate about who is better, Harden or Antetokounmpo, will be discussed for a few years yet.