In a new appearance on ESPN‘s The Jump, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum stood by his recent opinion that Houston Rockets guard James Harden deserved to win the NBA’s 2018-19 MVP award.
While acknowledging that Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (who won the media-voted award) also had a deserving case, Tatum told Rachel Nichols why he’s sticking with Harden as his choice.
You were splitting hairs last year in choosing between those two. I don’t think there’s a wrong case, but to me, it’s James Harden.
When he scored 30 for like 42 games in a row or something like that… Chris Paul was hurt a lot, and they were dealing with a lot of injuries.
It’s just, what he was doing was pretty remarkable.
Tatum’s recollection of Harden’s streak was slightly exaggerated, but not by much. Starting in December 2018, the league’s 2017-18 MVP scored 30 or more points in 32 consecutive games, which remains the second-longest streak in NBA history. That stretch helped the Rockets go 42-15 over their final 57 games of the season, which was the best of any Western Conference team over that span.
In all, Harden averaged a career-high 36.1 points last season, along with 7.5 assists and 6.6 rebounds. That 36.1 total represents the most points per game by any NBA player since Hall of Famer Michael Jordan averaged 37.1 more than 30 years ago, back in the 1986-87 season.
Meawhile, Antetokounmpo averaged 27.7 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 blocks. The “Greek Freak” led the Bucks (60-22) to the league’s best record, and he made the NBA All-Defensive First Team. Both Antetokounmpo and Harden were named to the All-NBA First Team.
[lawrence-related id=27979,27443]
Since the calendar flipped to 2018, Harden’s Rockets have won all five head-to-head meetings against Tatum’s Celtics, including an overtime thriller on Feb. 29 in the most recent matchup. Tatum led Boston with 32 points and 13 rebounds, but a clutch steal by Harden in the final 30 seconds followed by a pair of free throws were ultimately the difference.
In a home game earlier that same month, Harden led the Rockets with 42 points in an 11-point Houston victory.
[lawrence-related id=24684,24652]