It finally happened. After years of finishing as the bridesmaid, James Harden finally secured the hardware. Honestly, by the time the 2018 NBA MVP voting results were announced at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, it felt less like a reveal and more like a coronation.
The Beard had been knocking on the door forever.
He was the runner-up in 2015 to Stephen Curry. He was the runner-up in 2017 to Russell Westbrook’s historic triple-double season. People were starting to wonder if the media just didn't like his playing style enough to give him the top spot. But 2018 was different. The Houston Rockets weren't just good; they were a juggernaut. They won 65 games. Harden led the league in scoring. He was the engine of an offense that looked like it was designed in a laboratory to break the NBA.
When the ballots were tallied, it wasn't even particularly close. Harden took home 86 first-place votes. LeBron James, somehow still peaking in his 15th season, grabbed the remaining 15. Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo filled out the rest of the top five, but they were mostly just there to witness the inevitable.
The Statistical Case That Locked It Up
Numbers don't lie, but they can be exhausting. In Harden’s case, they were overwhelming. He averaged 30.4 points, 8.8 assists, and 5.4 rebounds. He joined Michael Jordan and Stephen Curry as the only players to lead the league in scoring while also leading their team to 65-plus wins.
That matters.
The 2018 NBA MVP voting reflected a shift back toward rewarding the best player on the best team, a departure from the "narrative-heavy" win for Westbrook the year prior. Harden was the king of the isolation. He was the master of the step-back three. He drew fouls at a rate that drove opposing fanbases into a genuine frenzy.
LeBron James was his only real threat. Playing all 82 games for the first time in his career, LeBron dragged a chaotic Cleveland Cavaliers roster to 50 wins and the fourth seed. He put up 27.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 9.1 assists. If you value "value" in its purest sense—meaning, how bad would this team be without him—LeBron had a massive claim. The Cavs without LeBron were a lottery team. The Rockets without Harden were still pretty good, thanks to Chris Paul.
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But 65 wins is a massive number. You can't ignore the gap between 65 and 50. The voters didn't.
Why the 2018 Race Was More Than a Two-Man Show
While Harden and LeBron hogged the headlines, the rest of the 2018 NBA MVP voting ballot showed us where the league was headed.
Anthony Davis was a monster. After DeMarcus Cousins went down with a torn Achilles, "The Brow" went on a tear that reminded everyone why he's a generational talent. He finished third in the voting, tallying 445 total points. He was a defensive wall and an offensive hub, carrying New Orleans to a playoff spot they had no business reaching.
Then you had Damian Lillard.
Dame led Portland to the third seed in a brutal Western Conference. He didn't have the "Advanced Stats" profile of the guys above him, but he had the "Clutch" factor that voters occasionally fall in love with. He finished fourth. It was a career-high finish for him, a nod to his status as the best leader in the Pacific Northwest.
The Controversy You Might Have Forgotten
People still argue about this. Some folks insist that LeBron James was "robbed" because he played every single game and carried a heavier burden.
It's an interesting debate.
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If you look at the 2018 NBA MVP voting through the lens of individual dominance, LeBron has a case. But if you look at it through the lens of a season-long narrative, Harden was the guy from October to April. He had a 60-point triple-double against the Magic. He famously crossed over Wesley Johnson so hard the world stopped spinning for a second. These "MVP moments" stick in the minds of voters.
The analytics crowd loved Harden too. He led the league in Win Shares (12.7) and Box Plus/Minus (10.9). Basically, if you were a math person or a "hoop head," the data pointed toward the same bearded guy in Houston.
The voting breakdown looked like this:
- James Harden: 965 points
- LeBron James: 738 points
- Anthony Davis: 445 points
- Damian Lillard: 207 points
- Giannis Antetokounmpo: 75 points
Kevin Durant finished seventh. Russell Westbrook, the reigning MVP, finished fifth. It was a year where the league's hierarchy was shifting, yet the veterans still held the keys.
Does the 2018 Outcome Still Hold Up?
Looking back from today's perspective, the vote feels "right."
Harden’s peak was so high and so sustained that not giving him an MVP during that Rockets run would have been a historical oversight. It validated the Daryl Morey "analytics era." It proved that a team built entirely on threes, layups, and free throws could dominate the regular season.
Of course, the playoffs are a different story. The Rockets famously missed 27 straight threes in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Warriors. But the MVP is a regular-season award. It’s a 82-game marathon, not a 16-win sprint.
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In that marathon, Harden was the fastest man alive.
How to Analyze Historic MVP Races Like a Pro
If you're trying to settle a bar argument about the 2018 NBA MVP voting or any other year, you need to look at three specific pillars.
First, look at the Seed. Historically, the MVP comes from a top-two seed. Harden had the #1 overall seed. LeBron was #4. That’s a huge hurdle to overcome.
Second, look at the Attendance. Voters hate it when guys miss 20 games. Harden played 72. LeBron played 82. In this specific category, LeBron won, but 72 was "enough" for Harden to keep his lead.
Third, check the Voter Fatigue. LeBron had four trophies already. Harden had zero. While it's not a formal rule, there is a subconscious bias toward giving a first-timer the award if the race is even remotely close. It's just human nature.
Taking Action: Fact-Checking Your Basketball Debates
To get a better grip on why these votes go the way they do, stop looking at just PPG (Points Per Game). Start looking at these resources:
- Basketball-Reference's MVP Tracker: It uses an algorithm to predict the winner based on historical voting patterns. It was screaming Harden's name all through 2018.
- On/Off Splits: Look at how much a team collapses when their star sits. This is usually the strongest argument for "Value."
- The "Strength of Schedule" Impact: Harden played in a loaded West; LeBron played in a significantly weaker East. This context is often the tiebreaker for media members.
Next time you're diving into NBA history, don't just look at who won. Look at the "Share" of the vote. Harden’s 0.955 share in 2018 tells you that the consensus was nearly universal, regardless of what the Twitter trolls might say years later.