5 Reasons Why James Harden Is The 2017-18 NBA MVP

#2 Two-time runner-up (2015, 17)

Harden lost out to Curry in 2015.

So the NBA MVP award is all about narratives. In 2015, he lost out to Stephen Curry because the Golden State Warriors had won more games because of his impact whereas Harden had his personal averages to show off. In 2017, he won more games than his MVP competitor Russell Westbrook but the Brodie's "triple-double" storyline helped him win it.

Harden has clearly not fallen off the radar and is undoubtedly in this year's MVP talks. So finishing runners-up twice in the past three years does ear him a lot of brownie points in the minds of the voters. They are bound to notice that he has put up yet another stellar season with league-leading numbers, which have resulted in wins for the team.