The 2014-15 season has drawn to a close and now it’s time to reflect. As we all get excited and prepared for the 2015 NBA Playoffs, we also want to take the time and recognize the best of the best from this season. Although we might not have an official vote for any of these awards, we still have to put our picks in here somewhere.
So check out the 2015 NBA Awards and let us know what you think!
We’ve done them all so far. We picked the Coach of the Year, Most Improved Player, 6th man of the year, Defensive player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and now it’s time for the prized award. The MVP.
Nominees:
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
James Harden, Houston Rockets
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
Chris Paul, Los Angeles Clippers
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Cameron
Winner: Russell Westbrook
WESTGOAT! I’m just going to start by saying, Westbrook had the best post all star break of all time. That means from the first game after the all-star break through the end of the season Westbrook put up numbers we have not seen since the NBA was created and probably wont see for another 40+years. He was already a dark horse candidate to win before all-star break so the consistency is there. One knock on him is the amount of games he’s missed but if was to bet you at the beginning of the season that Westbrook would break his hand and break his face LITERALLY, and still play 67 games you would be lining up to take my money. Well on top of that his teammates Kevin Durant last year’s MVP and annual DPOY Candidate Serge Ibaka have missed 73 games combined. Then let me add that the Thunder traded away a 6th man of the year candidate in Reggie Jackson, and brought in five new players since January. The only thing consistent about this team is Westbrook’s out this world play and the groans from OKC fans when Waiters shoots a stepback! He’s taking home the scoring title, he’s top five in assists and steals. He’s not top five in rebounds, but his 7.3 per game is first for all guards and even small forwards if you count Draymond Green as a power forward instead of small. His 11 triple-doubles blows everyone else out the water. Curry and Harden have done amazing things this year also but they are no WestGoat…
Martin
Winner: James Harden
The Beard has my vote, but also just for the record, not only do I completely believe that Stephen Curry will win the award, I won’t have any grounds to be upset about it. Personally I just feel that James Harden has been the most unstoppable player this season. He’s carried an immense load for the Rockets offensively, averaging no less than 25 points and 6 assists per month, and kept them in the upper tier of the rigorous Western Conference without the second best player on his team for half of the season. He posed the biggest individual threat to defenses and got himself to the free throw line ten times per game, making more this season than anyone else has attempted. This isn’t necessarily supposed to be the criterion, but if you just imagine what the Houston Rockets would look like without James Harden, that would generally depict why I’d choose him as this season’s Most Valuable Player.
Max
Winner: James Harden
Fear the beard. James has been great all season, and made his team a lot better than they look. With Dwight Howard out for a lot of the season, James Harden lead the Rockets, and he has made them one of the most feared teams in the west. James averages 27.5 PPG, good for second in the league. James also gets to the free throw line a lot averaging 10 FTA per game. James has gotten his teammates involved on offense too, averaging almost 7 APG. James also has the highest WAR in the NBA at 19.54. His real plus minus is also very high at 8.3 good for third in the NBA. Without James Harden, the Rockets would not be nearly as good as they were. James has carried his team and deserves MVP.
Kyle
Winner: Russell Westbrook
Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs. Who is the MOST VALUABLE player this season, not necessarily the best, but valuable. It’s easily Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are already without last years MVP Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and are still hanging in there under Westbrook’s leadership. He single handedly is the reason why the Thunder have been winning games. If the Thunder don’t have Westbrook, then they wouldn’t have won a game at all after Durant got hurt, and most likely have a top three draft pick. What puts him over the top isn’t just because he scores. He is a walking triple double on a team that doesn’t have much talent, a team that still has a chance to make the playoffs.
Es
Winner: Stephen Curry
The Golden State Warriors hold the best record in the NBA and in the West by a mile and a half, and this could not have happened without the explosion of Stephen Curry. For the first time in a while, someone other then LeBron James or Kobe Bryant had the most votes in the All-Star game and most sold jersey, and his name was Stephen Curry. He’s bursting onto the NBA scene, not as just a superstar, but as arguably the best player this year.
Rob
Winner: James Harden
Every MVP candidate deserves this award in one way or another. LeBron James is the best player on the planet and there’s no arguing that. The Cavs without him aren’t that good but they’re not horrible, they have a nice cast around him. The real value for LeBron might be his GM skills.
Anthony Davis has a ridiculous 30+ PER, 4th player in NBA history to put up such an incredible efficient rating. He’s led the Pelicans to the playoffs through injuries to himself and players and he’s been putting up insane numbers only at 21 years of age.
Chris Paul played every game this season for the Clippers for the first time in his career. He’s done a lot with a little with Blake Griffin missing a chunk of time, DeAndre Jordan being so dependent on his passing and all the shooters spot up and wait for his playmaking ability to get a chance to put up a shot off a Paul pass. CP3 is also a standup defender, irregardless of the amount of times Stephen Curry crossed him up this season, Paul is one of, if not the best, 2 way point guard in the NBA.
Russell Westbrook reeled off 11 triple-double this season, literally putting the Thunder on his back and carried them right until the end of the season and he also won the scoring title to boot. Westbrook did it all for the majority of the season through his own injuries and injuries of his teammates to put up some insane statlines after the All-Star break.
And then there were 2. Stephen Curry is the the best player on the best team, no doubt about that. His squad is one of the best of all time and that’s not debatable. The thing is, it sucks because Curry has done nothing wrong per say it’s just that James Harden has done so much right.
Harden dropped 30, 40, 50 point nights on the regular. Harden did it all for his team while different guys struggled or were hurt. No Howard for a big chunk of the season, no Terrence Jones either for half the season. He’s been a problem for teams defenses night after night and contributed to a team that was depleted and he finished number 2 in the Western Conference. Harden’s having a career year, averaging career-high in points per game, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks despite playing less minutes per game than he has in the last two seasons with the Rockets. That’s insane. James Harden has scored or assisted on 42 percent of the Rockets’ points -which is the most since Derrick Rose’s MVP season- while the team lost 392 games to injury all together this season. According to Elias, only the Wolves (423) and Lakers (422) have lost more to injury.
The thing is, the ones in the media with votes, will vote for Stephen Curry. Either way would be fine for me.
David
Winner: James Harden
This is a 3-man race between James Harden, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook, and is the closest MVP race we’ve seen in a long time. Harden gets the edge. He’s had a career year, averaging career-high per-game stats in points, assists, rebounds, steals, and blocks despite playing less minutes per game than he has in either of the past two seasons. Harden has lead the depleted Rockets to a fantastic season. He has had to carry his team much more than Curry has, and unlike Westbrook he has maintained his efficiency. He’s our MVP.
Stephen
Winner: Stephen Curry
This might have been one of the toughest selections for the MVP award in the past few years honestly. With outstanding performances by James Harden leading a Dwight Howard-less Rockets team into the playoffs. Overshadowing Anthony Davis making the next jump in his career to an elite big man in this league and Russell Westbrook’s masterful performances throughout the year which led him to a scoring title at least. Of course LeBron James was in the conversation as well with what he has done in Cleveland all season to help turn that franchise around once again.
Charlie
Winner: Stephen Curry
I have loved this race for the MVP. Has there ever been a race with so many legitimate MVP candidates?! Man i’m like a kid in a candy store. Down to the nitty gritty. Steph Curry continues to be a machine, Great season last year. And somehow he managed to top it! Smashing his Single Season 3PT made record. And leading his team to be the outright best in the league. Best in the league. Arguably the best point guard. Oh and can i say the point guard position is the toughest in the league? Just throwing that out there. Keep on cooking Steph.
