The MVP votes have been tallied, and the award went to Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors. James Harden earned second place in the voting. It would appear, however, that he should have received more points than he did.
Harden’s name appeared on every voting ballot but one. The one man who left Harden off his list? Cleveland beat reporter Chris Haynes. However, according to Haynes’ Twitter, he did not intend to snub Harden.
According to the results, I left James Harden entirely out of MVP Top 5. That was not my intentions.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) May 4, 2015
Haynes is likely telling the truth, as evidenced by his mock ballet released in April, in which he had Harden in third, behind Curry and LeBron James.
Haynes’ ballot in April reads:
1. Stephen Curry, Warriors
2. LeBron James, Cavaliers
3. James Harden, Rockets
4. Anthony Davis, Pelicans
5. Chris Paul, Clippers
The ballot that was actually put forth for voting reads:
1. Stephen Curry, Warriors
2. LeBron James, Cavaliers
3. Anthony Davis, Pelicans
4. Russell Westbrook, Thunder
5. Chris Paul, Clippers
This is not the first time something like this has happened this year. One voter forgot to put Golden State’s Draymond Green on his ballot for Defensive Player of the Year, despite the fact that Green was considered a frontrunner for the award.
That one vote was nowhere near close enough to have been affected by Haynes’ single vote – Curry would’ve won either way. The thing is, small oversights like these shouldn’t happen. Voters need to be careful and really think about their votes before casting them. After all, awards like MVP and Defensive Player of the Year often affect the kind of contracts players will be offered.
