“I believe I am the MVP”: James Harden is bullish about his chances at the Maurice Podoloff trophy after leading the Nets to a clutch win over Detroit

The MVP race hasn’t been quite as wide open as this year in quite a while. But James Harden is quite confident in his credentials.

The Brooklyn Nets have lost just 2 of their last 19 games with James Harden in action. They have surged from a 14-11 record at the start of February to a dominant 31-15 standing at this point.

Joel Embiid and LeBron James were the consensus top 2 MVP picks when they went down with injuries in March. In their absence, there is an assortment of candidates to pick from.

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Nikola Jokic and Damian Lillard would both be undisputed at the no. 1 spot if their teams had homecourt advantage. But as things stand, the Blazers and Nuggets are tied for 5th spot with a 27-18 record. So neither of them is a clearcut choice at the moment.

James Harden doubles down on his MVP credentials in a post-game interview

Harden had his 11th triple-double in Nets colors last night, and this was probably the pick of the lot. On a night without KD and Kyrie, Harden registered 44 points, 11 rebounds and 12 dimes to help the Nets to the W.

It required some great last-possession defense by Nic Claxton for them to seal the win. But Harden looked like a contented man at the end of the contest as he addressed his MVP credentials to Malika Andrews:

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Unfortunately, Giannis, Harden and LeBron are all going to be victims of voter fatigue. Harden has the added disadvantage of being on the only recognized superteam in the league at the moment.

Harden’s play has been up to the characteristic MVP levels we’ve come to expect from him over the last 8 seasons or so. He truly is a law unto himself, able to put any team on his back and lead the to wins.