Stephen Curry was the back-to-back NBA MVP including the first unanimous vote last season. This season is much different as there’s no clear-cut frontrunner. Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook has been dazzling fans as he is close to joining Oscar Robertson as the only other player to average a triple-double for an entire season. James Harden (who many people have on top) added playmaking to his repertoire after switching to point guard and has the Houston Rockets looking like title contenders. Kawhi Leonard kills on both ends of the court, leading the San Antonio Spurs to the best record in the league currently. Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is having one of the best individual seasons of his storied career and would become just the fourth player to win at least five MVP honors if he was selected. Isaiah Thomas and John Wall are dark horses as their teams have turned things around, but for the most part, it’s a four-player race.
The results were gathered throughout Sunday and Monday. Of the 32 executives who took part, 20 are general managers or front-office heads, and their vote totals are in parentheses. (via USA Today)
1) Harden: 12 (seven among front office heads)
2) Westbrook: eight (six)
3) Leonard: seven (six)
4) James: five (one)
The executives requested anonymity because of competitive reasons, and participants did not include members of the Thunder, Rockets, Spurs and Cavs because, well, objectivity might be tough to come by from those teams on this particular topic. The Los Angeles Lakers’ new general manager, Rob Pelinka, was also not polled because he was Harden’s agent until a few weeks ago
