Russell Westbrook’s triple-doubles were historic, but James Harden is the NBA’s MVP

James Harden should be the 2016-17 NBA MVP. Yes, over Mr. Triple-Double himself, Russell Westbrook.

Before we dive into Harden’s season, let’s throw cold water on the core MVP argument for Russ. It’s true that Westbrook averaged a triple-double. No, that hasn’t been done since Oscar Robertson.

But while Westbrook did become the first player to average 10 assists and 10 rebounds per game since the Big O, Harden also reached an assist/rebound threshold that hasn’t been done since Robertson: 11 assists and eight rebounds.

Both players made history with their combination of assists and boards. The only difference is that 10 is an aesthetically pleasing number, unlike 11 or eight.

Westbrook had a remarkable season, and one could make a reasonable case for him. But if the crux of his argument is based on averaging a triple-double, that’s poor justification. There’s a 2.6-rebound-per-game difference between the two players. If Westbrook averaged 9.9 rebounds per game and Harden averaged 7.3, would we emphasize Westbrook’s advantage on the glass the same way? Why should 0.8 rebounds per game be a game-changer? And Harden’s 8.1 rebounds per game were still a lot of rebounds.

For the sake of argument, let’s say every single Westbrook rebound was legitimate and grabbed within the natural flow of the game. Let’s say Westbrook didn’t have convenient access to his team’s easy boards due to the Thunder’s rebounding tactics. Let’s say Westbrook didn’t curiously eschew contesting shots to fly in for boards. Let’s say that he would never try to inorganically tack on a stat.

It’d still be asinine to suggest that a two-rebound discrepancy (and the triple-double that stems from it) should carry so much weight, especially when you consider Harden held up strong-to-quite-strong at virtually everything else in comparison.

For one, he had a better scoring season.

Westbrook took over five more shots per game than Harden, far too many to justify an edge of just 2.5 more points per game. Harden scored a whopping 1.537 points per shot, becoming just the third player in NBA history (Adrian Dantley, Karl Malone) to hit a mark that high while taking at least 18 attempts per game. And it’s over a fifth of a point more than Westbrook, who comes in under other point guards like Goran Dragic, Mike Conley, and Damian Lillard.

Harden also had a true shooting mark above 60 percent. Only three other guards (Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Isaiah Thomas) have ever hit that figure while averaging even 25 points per game. Harden’s true shooting percentage was nearly six points higher than Westbrook’s.

Not only did Harden’s scoring reach levels of volume and efficiency few have ever reached, but he was much more efficient than Westbrook despite carrying a comparable burden on his shoulders.

Then consider what Harden did as a creator for others. Night in and night out, Houston relied on Harden to pull a rabbit out of his hat and create open looks for his teammates. While the same can certainly be said about Westbrook, Harden put together an even better season of playmaking.

Harden not only averaged 11.2 assists per game for the season, but his incredible consistency was underscored by reaching double-digits in 60 games. That’s more than some of the greatest passers the sport’s ever seen — guys like Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Jason Kidd, Mark Jackson — have ever had in a season. It was essentially on a tier with the likes of John Stockton and Magic Johnson.

And those players didn’t create as many points through their assists because far more of Harden’s dimes went for an extra point. They also were never in the same solar system as Harden as a scorer.

When you marry the scoring and playmaking, Harden’s season hits new highs as well.

Since 1975, there had been just five instances of a player has dropping 30 points and 10 assists in four straight games. One was Michael Jordan in 1988-89. One was Westbrook in 2016-17. The other three were Harden in 2016-17 (Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard each had such a streak in 2019-20).

Harden had 29 different 30-point, 10-assist games in 2016-17, three more than Westbrook. Russ is the only player to notch even half as many such games in a season in that same four-decade window.

In terms of sheer volume, Harden put up over 2,300 points and 900 assists in 2016-17. Tiny Archibald is the only player that’s ever done that. Even if you lower the standard to those who have hit 2,000 points and 700 assists, that still only pries the door open for Westbrook and Oscar.

Consider, too, that the Rockets won 55 games without another star on the team.

Think of the kind of players who have won that many as the lone star. We’re talking Tim Duncan on the 2002-03 Spurs, where his best teammate was either Stephen Jackson or a 20-year-old Tony Parker. We’re talking Hakeem Olajuwon in 1993-94 when his best teammate was Otis Thorpe. We’re talking LeBron James in the final two seasons of his first Cavaliers tenure, when his top lieutenant was Mo Williams.

All those players won MVP, by the way.

A team whose second-best player was Eric Gordon, Trevor Ariza, or Ryan Anderson has no business winning 55 games. Westbrook and his two more rebounds per game aren’t enough to cancel all that out.