Based on a new straw poll of 70 media members who cover the NBA, Houston Rockets star and former league MVP James Harden currently ranks third in MVP voting for the 2019-20 season.
Harden trails Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, who placed first and second in the voting, respectively. Antetokounmpo also won the award last season.
Here’s the methodology, as explained by ESPN:
To make the balloting process realistic, ESPN sought to mimic the league’s official voting process as closely as possible. Our MVP voting panel includes a mixture of local beat writers from across the league, as well as national and international reporters, just as the NBA’s does at the conclusion of the regular season. And, to conform to the NBA’s voting system, every first-place vote is worth 10 points, followed by seven for second place, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.
While Harden did not receive any first-place votes, he did receive two second-place votes — making him the only player other than Antetokounmpo or James to crack the top two. Overall, Harden finished in third place with 220 points, having made 56 of the 70 ballots.
Harden’s voting profile included two second-place votes; 30 third-place votes; 16 fourth-place votes; and eight fifth-place votes.
By contrast, Dallas guard Luka Doncic is in fourth place with 171 total points, with zero second-place votes and 19 third-place votes. Doncic led Harden for third place in ESPN‘s December MVP straw poll, but Harden appears to have overtaken the Mavs star as the season has progressed.
Harden currently leads the league with a 34.3 points per game scoring average, which represents just the third time in over 30 years that an NBA player has averaged at least 34 points in a season. (The other two were Harden’s 36.1 last season and Kobe Bryant’s 35.4 in 2005-06.)
However, the team results for this season’s Rockets (40-24) aren’t as strong as the Bucks (53-12) or Lakers (49-14), which largely explains Harden’s current placement behind Antetokounmpo and James.
Harden has finished first or second in MVP voting in four of the last five seasons, as determined by the league’s panel of media voters.
