NBA MVP Race: The Battle of the Beards

With more than a quarter of the season complete, the MVP race has been one for the ages. Many players have had fantastic seasons so far, but three players have really stood out in this year's race: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. All three have recorded jaw-dropping numbers and dazzling highlights, but it's been the leadership that they've displayed which has been most impressive so far. Unfortunately, the award can only be given to one person and while the decision was unanimous the past two seasons, it'll be difficult to gauge who the winner will be for this year's award.

The Case for Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James (SF)

Coming off back-to-back defeats against the Warriors and Kings and losses in five of the last seven games, it's hard to envision a 33-year-old LeBron at the forefront of the MVP race. The good news for him is that, other than last night's game he's been nothing short of phenomenal this season. In his 15th year, he's putting up a career-high in assists, averaging the second-most rebounds of his career, while also posting the third most points in the league.

If there are two things anyone could nitpick about James' game, it was his inability to consistently knock-down jump shots and his effort on the defensive end, especially during the regular season. According to Basketball-Reference, not only has LeBron increased the volume of jump-shots he takes, but he's nailing 61.8% of his two-point shots (if maintained, would be the highest since his last season in Miami), and 40.1% of his three's (if maintained, would be the highest since the 2012-13 season). Unlike his ultra-efficient 2012-13 season though, LeBron is attempting nearly 27% of three's, relative to the 18% he attempted in Miami.

When it comes to defense, LeBron has always been complacent during the regular season. Fortunately, LeBron has played defense at a much higher level, this year, than he has in previous seasons. That's not to say Calderon, Crowder, J.R., Wade and the rest of the team haven't held their own on that side of the ball, but LeBron has clearly led the way for the team and continues to do so. He's averaging 1.6 steals and a block per game—which would be his highest totals since his 2009-10 season.

It's scary to think that a player in their 15th season is being considered better now than they were in their third or fourth year, but that's been the case with LeBron. He's posting career-highs in both assists and PER while putting up the most points per game since he came back to Cleveland. Now that Isaiah Thomas is back, LeBron will need to figure out how to better adjust his game to help the team, and if that means sacrificing stats for wins so be it. LeBron isn't playing for MVP's anymore, he's playing for championships. Luckily for him, posting averages of 27.7 points, 9.2 assists, and 8.1 rebounds on 56% from the field and 38.7% from three will generate a ton of MVP conversations throughout the league regardless of who the player is.

The Case for Boston Celtics: Kyrie Irving (PG)

Before the 2017-18 NBA Season began many wondered if Kyrie would be able to lead a team to a winning record. It wasn't a shot at Kyrie, it was an actual observation—since, during his time in Cleveland, his selfish style of play couldn't even help the Cavs keep a lead for two minutes without LeBron. And with Gordon Hayward going down due to a gruesome ankle injury, the likelihood of Kyrie leading a top three team in the East dwindled.

After dropping the first two games against Cleveland and Milwaukee, the whispers of Kyrie's inability to lead a team grew even louder. Since then, he's lead the Celtics to a 31-8 record, including a 16-game win-streak—where his team has beaten the likes of the Thunder, Spurs, and the Warriors.

He's currently averaging 24.8 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game, but what's really been surprising this year has been his newfound defense and his desire to defend opposing guards, such as Steph, Westbrook, and Harden. His ambition to play solid perimeter defense has also helped Boston sustain a league-best defense, in which they're holding teams to 98.5 points per game and have a defensive rating of 102.9.

So far Kyrie has made it clear that he doesn't need LeBron to win games for him and he's out to prove every detractor wrong—whether it be to shoot down the notion that he's not a true point guard or the fact that he can't play defense, Kyrie is rising to the challenge and is showing the world that he's a force to be reckoned with. He is without a doubt, a top-five point guard in the league and easily a top-three MVP Candidate.

The Case for Houston Rockets: James Harden (SG)

Prior to the injury, James Harden was easily the frontrunner for the 2017-18 NBA MVP Award. He was averaging 32.3 points, 9.1 assists, and five rebounds per game, all while leading the Rockets to the best record in the West. Mind you, he did all of this without his superstar point guard, CP3. Even though there's been some slippage in his defense, he has played much better on that side of the ball than he ever did before.

In December alone, Harden averaged 33.6 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game on 45% shooting. He even had back to back 51 point performances, scored over 30 points on seven separate occasions, and has perfected the art of free-throw shooting—getting to the line nearly 12 times per game and converting on 86.8% of his free-throws.

While the free-throw shooting can get a bit excessive, and his defense can get mediocre during pivotal moments, he is still the reason why the Rockets are a top three team in the West. Unfortunately, the injury won't help his MVP case and if CP3 is able to carry the load while he's out for an extended period, it would be difficult to consider him the most valuable player in the league.

According to Jonathon Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Harden could miss up to six weeks due to a grade two hamstring injury and by then he would most likely fall out of the top five. It's hard to envision him as the MVP this year, but if he were to come back and continue putting up dominating performances like the ones he had before the injury, it wouldn't be a surprise if the league named him the MVP.

*Unless otherwise referenced, all stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com