Clear some shelf space
Harden expected to capture MVP honor tonight
LOS ANGELES — The offseason that began sooner than James Harden would have liked took him from Milan for fashion week to his middle school for a “block party” celebration of the season, a fitting reminder of how far he had traveled on the way back home.
If the symbolism were not clear enough, Sunday’s event here at Audubon Middle School was given the title, “Imma Be a Star,” alluding to the note Harden left for his mother when he was a high school freshman declaring his goal to achieve basketball greatness.
By Monday evening, a few miles and a world away from where he made that pledge, he is expected to be named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the
NBA awards show
When: 8 p.m. today • TV: TNT Where: Santa Monica, Calif.
Rockets’ finalists
MVP: James Harden • Sixth Man Award: Eric Gordon Most Improved Player: Clint Capela
2017-18 season in an event filled with all the spectacle the NBA and TNT could pile on for the league’s annual postseason awards presentation.
The Rockets did not achieve the goal they cited so openly since the start of training camp, falling in Game 7 to the reigning and repeat champion Warriors in the Western Conference finals. But the NBA’s celebration of the season Monday will shine a light on the successes that gave rise to those hopes.
After finishing as the MVP runner-up in two of the past three seasons, Harden is the heavy favorite to claim his first MVP award.
A season after he led the NBA in assists per game, Harden was the NBA’s leading scorer, averaging 30.4 points per game. Of the previous 10 scoring champions to lead their teams to the NBA’s best record, as Harden did with the 65-win Rockets, nine were the MVP. The exception was Michael Jordan in the 1996-97 season, when the Bulls were five games ahead of Karl Malone’s Jazz. Harden’s Rockets were 15 games better than LeBron James’ Cavaliers.
The previous players to lead their teams to 65 wins while averaging at least 30 points — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jordan (twice) and Steph Curry — all were named that season’s MVP, including Curry’s unanimous selection for 2015-16.
Harden, the Rockets’ only All-Star last season, would be their first MVP since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994, joining Olajuwon and Moses Malone as the only MVPs in franchise history.
But Harden will not be alone at the event in Santa Monica. Assorted teammates and team executives are expected to attend.
Gordon, Capela finalists
Rockets guard Eric Gordon, the 2016-17 Sixth Man of the Year winner, is a finalist to repeat, with the Clippers’ Lou Williams and Raptors’ Fred VanVleet in contention.
Rockets center Clint Capela is a finalist for the Most Improved award along with the Pacers’ Victor Oladipo and Nets’ Spencer Dinwiddie.
Judging from media votes revealed in April, Williams and Oladipo can be considered nearly as likely to win in their categories as Harden is in his.
Other awards might offer greater suspense.
Utah’s Donovan Mitchell, Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons and Boston’s Jayson Tatum are finalists for the Rookie of the Year award.
New Orleans’ Anthony Davis, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Utah’s Rudy Gobert are finalists for Defensive Player of the Year.
Utah’s Quin Snyder, Boston’s Brad Stevens and Detroit’s Dwane Casey, who coached Toronto last season before he was fired following a second-round playoff loss, are the finalists to succeed the Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni as Coach of the Year.
Along the way, the winner of the NBA Cares Community Assist Award will be announced along with the fan voting for Play of the Year, Best Style, Dunk of the Year, Clutch Shot of the Year, Assist of the Year, Block of the Year and Handle of the Year.
Honor for Mutombo
Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo will receive the Sager Strong Award, named in honor of late TNT broadcaster Craig Sager, for his humanitarian work during his career and since. Hall of Fame guard Oscar Robertson will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Robertson was the longestserving president of the National Basketball Players Association, co-founded the National Basketball Retired Players Association, serving as its first president, and was instrumental in the creation of free agency with his antitrust lawsuit that led to a settlement and “the Oscar Robertson rule.”
Comedian and actor Anthony Anderson will serve as host, with performances from Houstonian and Harden friend Travis Scott as, for the second year, the NBA presents its awards on one night in a made-for-television event, rather than in the traditional arena settings throughout the postseason.
For Harden, 28, winning the league’s most coveted individual award would put an exclamation point on a season that, while not winding up all he hoped it would be, came with triumphs and achievements to be celebrated.