Each week sports reporters Matthew Lambert and Eric Schroeder will face off on a hot topic in sports. This week Sam Thiel will step in for Eric and voice his opinion. The world of sports is changing quickly and constantly, but we want to slow it down and take a better look at the juiciest gossip, scandal, rumor or issue that is making headlines this week. Lambert and Thiel will take different sides and battle it out, telling you why you they are right.

This week’s topic: Who will win the NBA MVP?

With the NBA regular season over, it’s time to focus on end of the year awards. While there are some awards that will probably be won unanimously (i.e. Rookie of the Year and Andrew Wiggins), the MVP race is extremely tight. Some experts believe it could be a competition between six different players. Who will it be? Let’s talk about it…

(Recap by Matthew Lambert)

FROM MATTHEW LAMBERT

For me, this award has belonged to one person the entire season, Stephen Curry.

While many naysayers will argue Curry’s team, the Golden State Warriors, is better and players like Russell Westbrook and James Harden have had to drag their injury-riddled teams kicking and screaming. While also mentioning how the best player on the planet, LeBron James, should be the MVP because he’s taken the Cleveland Cavaliers from dumpster fire to title contender. Right now, I want to squash those ideas by mentioning the Warriors wouldn’t be the best team in the league without Curry and penalizing Curry because his team is top tier is ridiculous. How could you fault a player whose teammates play better than most? Isn’t that what you want in your MVP? A guy who can make the players better around him?

That’s what Curry does. He makes everyone better around him, while also putting up outrageous numbers. From a statistical stand point; Curry is better than anyone else. Curry plays around 33 minutes a game and averaging 23.9 points a game. He leads the league in free throw percentage with .914 and shoots .444 from the field and .442 from three-point range, respectively. So it’s safe to say his offensive numbers are astounding, but so are Westbrook’s and Harden’s. Curry separation comes on the defensive end and how he has taken his teammates from regular starters to All-Stars.

Curry averages two steals a game and only turns the ball over around three times a game. Curry also averages eight assists a game. Curry has single handedly made Klay Thompson a force to be reckoned with, has made Draymond Green one of the best draft steals in the past decade, and any forward or center that plays with Curry will instantly have better scoring numbers.

FROM SAM THIEL

Putting my loyalty toward the Golden State Warriors and favorite player Stephen Curry aside, I will write from the side of Houston guard James Harden in this debate.

As the NBA’s second-leading scorer and leader in facial hair, Harden has been playing at an extremely high level all season long, posting 27.4 points per game. Despite center Dwight Howard missing 23 games with a knee injury, Harden has led the Rockets to the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a 56-26 record, only 11 games behind the Warriors.

He has been spectacular multiple times, including scoring 41 and 51 points in two games in early April. He led the league in scoring for the majority of the season and is averaging over 27 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and two steals per game. The last two players to accomplish this feat? Michael Jordan and LeBron James – arguably the two best players to ever step foot on a basketball court. Harden’s assist numbers are higher than ever, and he is a legitimate combo guard. He’s bigger, faster and stronger than Curry, plus has the ability to drive to the hoop. The case against Harden is that Stephen Curry has been right there with him in stats and that Houston isn’t the top team in the conference but Curry is surrounded by All-Star players such as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Harden’s ability to light up the net is unbelievable. He has eight games of 40 or more points and two with 50 or higher. Curry, on the other hand, only had two 40-point games and one 50-point game.

History has always chosen the best player on the best team to take home the MVP award, but Harden will rewrite the history books by becoming the first player in NBA history with the most stylish beard.