The 2016-2017 NBA season was a fever dream. Honestly, looking back at it now, the league felt like it was shifting on its axis. Kevin Durant had just bolted for the Golden State Warriors, leaving a massive, smoking crater in Oklahoma City. Everyone expected the Thunder to fold. Instead, we got a scorched-earth revenge tour that redefined what a single player could do on a basketball court. If you're looking for the short answer to who won NBA 2017 MVP, it was Russell Westbrook.
He didn't just win it. He snatched it.
It was a statistical anomaly of a year. For decades, the "triple-double" was this mythical thing Oscar Robertson did back in the sixties. People thought the Big O’s record of 41 triple-doubles in a single season was untouchable. Then Russ happened. He finished the year averaging 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per game. It was the first time in 55 years that anyone had averaged a triple-double over an entire season.
But the race wasn't a blowout. Not even close.
The James Harden Problem
While Westbrook was busy screaming at rims and hunting rebounds, James Harden was turning the Houston Rockets into an offensive juggernaut. This is the part people kinda forget when they talk about that year. Harden had a massive case for the trophy. Under Mike D'Antoni, Harden moved to full-time point guard and led the league in assists. He was efficient. He won more games than Russ.
The Rockets finished with 55 wins, while the Thunder managed 47. Usually, the MVP goes to the best player on a top-two or top-three seed. That’s the unwritten rule. Westbrook broke that rule. The debate became a philosophical war between "historic individual brilliance" and "winning at the highest level."
If you ask Rockets fans today, they’ll still tell you Harden was robbed. He put up 29 points, 11 assists, and 8 rebounds a night. In almost any other year in NBA history, those are "unanimous MVP" numbers. But 2017 wasn't a normal year. The narrative around Westbrook—the lone wolf, the abandoned superstar, the man playing every second like his life depended on it—was just too loud to ignore.
Why the Triple-Double Changed Everything
Stats shouldn't matter more than wins, right? That was the argument against Westbrook. People said he was "stat-padding." They pointed out how Steven Adams would box out just so Russ could grab the defensive board and start the break. Maybe that's true. But you still have to go out and get 10 rebounds every single night for 82 games. The physical toll of that style of play is staggering.
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The turning point for the voters probably happened on April 9, 2017.
The Thunder were playing the Nuggets in Denver. Westbrook needed one more triple-double to break Oscar Robertson's record. He got it. But he didn't just get the record. He scored 50 points. He grabbed 16 rebounds. He dished 10 assists. And then, with the clock winding down, he hit a 36-foot game-winning buzzer-beater that knocked Denver out of the playoffs.
Even the Denver fans were cheering for him.
That was the moment the MVP race ended. You can argue about efficiency and true shooting percentage all day, but when a guy breaks a 55-year-old record and hits a 50-point game-winner in the same night, you give him the trophy.
Kawhi Leonard and the "Quiet" Contender
We have to mention Kawhi Leonard. People always overlook him in the who won NBA 2017 MVP discussion because he wasn't a walking highlight reel in the same way. Leonard led the San Antonio Spurs to 61 wins. Think about that. 61 wins in the post-Tim Duncan era.
He was arguably the best two-way player on the planet. He’d lock down your best scorer on one end and then drop a methodical 26 points on the other. He finished third in the voting. If the media had valued defense and team success slightly more, Kawhi might have walked away with it. But 2017 was the year of the "Uber-Guard." The league was moving away from the slow, grit-and-grind style, and Kawhi, for all his brilliance, just didn't have the "wow" factor that Russ and Harden were producing every Tuesday night on League Pass.
Then you had LeBron James. LeBron was... well, LeBron. He averaged 26/8/8 for a Cleveland team that was coasting toward another Finals appearance. He finished fourth. It’s funny, looking back, that 26, 8, and 8 felt like a "down" year compared to what the others were doing. It shows how high the bar was set that season.
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The Final Voting Breakdown
When the votes finally came in during the inaugural (and widely disliked) NBA Awards show, the tally wasn't as close as some expected.
- Russell Westbrook: 69 first-place votes (888 total points)
- James Harden: 22 first-place votes (753 total points)
- Kawhi Leonard: 9 first-place votes (500 total points)
- LeBron James: 1 first-place vote (333 total points)
Westbrook became the first player since Moses Malone in 1982 to win the MVP on a team that didn't win 50 games. It was a total departure from how the MVP had been judged for three decades. It basically signaled that the voters were willing to reward individual "history" over traditional team success.
Does the 2017 MVP Win Age Well?
This is where things get messy. If you talk to "Analytics Twitter" or look at modern advanced metrics, the 2017 MVP win is often scrutinized. Westbrook’s usage rate was an absurd 41.7%, the highest in history at the time. He had the ball all the time.
The following years weren't kind to the Westbrook MVP narrative. He went on to average a triple-double in three of the next four seasons, and suddenly, the feat felt less "impossible" and more like a specific style of play. Meanwhile, James Harden went on to win the MVP in 2018, and Giannis Antetokounmpo rose to power soon after.
But judging 2017 Westbrook by 2024 standards is a mistake.
In that specific moment, what he was doing felt like watching a human glitch in the Matrix. Every game was a chaotic sprint. He was the most polarizing player in the world, but he was also the most undeniable. He dragged a roster that had no business being in the postseason to a 6th seed in a brutal Western Conference.
Key Statistics from the 2016-17 MVP Race
To understand why Russ won, you have to look at the "Clutch" stats. In the final five minutes of close games, Westbrook was a monster. He led the league in clutch scoring by a wide margin. He wasn't just putting up numbers in blowout losses; he was winning games single-handedly in the fourth quarter.
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- Westbrook: 31.6 PPG | 10.7 RPG | 10.4 APG | 42.5% FG
- Harden: 29.1 PPG | 8.1 RPG | 11.2 APG | 44.0% FG
- Leonard: 25.5 PPG | 5.8 RPG | 3.5 APG | 48.5% FG
Harden was the better floor general. Kawhi was the better defender. LeBron was the better all-around player. But Westbrook was the story.
What We Learned from the 2017 Race
The 2017 MVP race changed how we talk about basketball. It sparked endless debates about "Value" vs. "Best." It forced us to decide if a 10th rebound is really worth that much more than a 9th rebound. It made us realize that the NBA is a narrative-driven league.
If you’re a fan or a student of the game, there are a few things to take away from that season:
- Narrative is King: Westbrook’s "Revenge" arc after Durant left was a perfect media story. It’s hard to beat a good story.
- Milestones Matter: The round number of the triple-double (10/10/10) had a psychological effect on voters. If he had averaged 31, 10, and 9.9, he might not have won.
- The "Clutch" Factor: Winning games late carries more weight than winning them early. Those buzzer-beaters in Denver and Orlando sealed the deal.
How to Analyze Future MVP Races
If you want to predict who will win the MVP in future seasons, don't just look at the PER (Player Efficiency Rating) or the win-loss column. Look for the player who is doing something we haven't seen in a generation. Look for the player who is carrying a "narrative burden."
The 2017 race taught us that the MVP is a "snapshot" award. It captures the energy of a specific season. In 2017, that energy was loud, triple-double-heavy, and dressed in OKC Blue.
Whether you think Harden was robbed or Russ was the rightful king, you have to admit: we’ll probably never see a season that frantic again. The league has changed. Players are more efficient now, and triple-doubles are more common, but nobody has ever done it with the sheer, unadulterated rage of 2017 Russell Westbrook.
Next Steps for NBA History Buffs:
- Watch the Highlights: Go back and watch the final five minutes of the OKC vs. Denver game from April 9, 2017. It’s the quintessential MVP performance.
- Compare the Eras: Look at Oscar Robertson’s 1961-62 season vs. Westbrook’s 2016-17. The pace of play was actually much higher in the 60s, making Russ’s feat arguably more impressive.
- Check the "Snub" Lists: Research the 2006 MVP race between Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. It’s the only other race in modern history that rivals 2017 for sheer "stat vs. seed" controversy.