By: Burke De Boer sports editor
After the first round of the NBA playoffs, Russell Westbrook is now home watching the remaining teams compete.
The frontrunner for the NBA Most Valuable Player award, Westbrook is reduced to a civilian. His only MVP competitor is James Harden.
Unlike Westbrook, Harden has advanced to the second round of the playoffs. His Houston Rockets team took down Westbrook’s Oklahoma City Thunder in four games.
The series put the two teams head-to-head, and was predicted to be the indicator for which player truly is the most valuable.
Harden edged Westbrook out of the playoffs. The question now is if he will take the award as well.
Cameras caught Houston fans taunting Westbrook in the Rockets-Thunder series, by holding a sign reading, “The real MVP is over there.” Westbrook is seen looking at the sign, which has an arrow pointing toward Harden.
It was good-natured, competitive ribbing that we can expect from organized sports and fan bases. It was funny because there was some truth to it. After all, wouldn’t the real MVP be able to get his team to advance in the playoffs?
Though he bowed out of the big dance early, Westbrook still leads the MVP voting by an ever-increasing margin, because the head-to-head matchup of the two teams seemed to have the opposite effect from their outcome.
Westbrook, in his first season without Kevin Durant, averaged a triple-double on the season. Only one other player had ever done that, and that was 55 years ago.
The Thunder finished sixth place this season, which is well below the finish of a typical MVP candidate. First round exits aren’t typical MVP fodder either, but these games against the Rockets served to show how much Westbrook is truly doing.
Harden had the most points and assists on his team in most of the games of the series. The fourth game was a poor showing from Harden, but he still led his team in assists.
Westbrook had the most points, assists and rebounds on the Thunder every game, and was often the overall leader of these numbers.
He outscored Harden in three out of five games, he out-assisted Harden in four out of five games and he outrebounded Harden in every single game.
Westbrook put the Thunder on his back and took them as far as he could. If this translates to an MVP award remains to be seen, but it would be a surprise to see him surpassed.
Contact the author at journalsports@wou.edu
