Brooklyn Nets Star James Harden Says He’s The NBA MVP — And Charles Barkley Agrees

Brooklyn Nets star James Harden says he’s the NBA MVP — and Charles Barkley agrees.

“Do I feel like I belong in it? I feel like I am the MVP,” Harden said Friday of the MVP conversation. “I mean, it’s just that simple. I don’t want to speak individually on myself. I’m just going to leave it at that.”

Harden won MVP honors in 2018 when he led the league in scoring at 30.4 points per game. Harden is currently averaging 25.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and a league-best 11.2 assists per game. The Nets are 24-7 with Harden on the court.

“I just try to go out there every single night and give my teammates everything that I can bring to the game,” Harden said.

Several of the league’s top stars — LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Harden’s teammate Kevin Durant — have all been sidelined by injuries. James and Embiid are also in the MVP conversation, as are Nikola Jokić of Nuggets, Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Bucks (who is seeking his third straight MVP) and Luka Doncic of the Mavericks.

One argument against Harden — made by ESPN’s Tim Legler — is that he’s only played about 30 games for the Nets since coming over from the Rockets, from which he forced a trade. Embiid, averaging 29.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists, has also been limited to the same number of games.

Still, Barkley doesn’t care.

“The NBA in the MVP right now is James Harden,” Barkley told ESPN’s Mike Greenberg last week on his radio show. “What he’s doing right now without KD and without Kyrie [Irving], we can’t ignore that. James Harden is the MVP of the NBA plain and simple.”

Barkley added: “I know I’m going to get in trouble for saying this, but right now James Harden might be the best player in the world.”