There is no denying that James Harden has had one of best individual seasons in NBA history, but he still has not done enough to win the MVP over Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is smashing records that, a few years ago, nobody ever thought would be broken. In 1962, NBA legend Oscar Robertson had the best individual season in NBA history up until this year, when he averaged a triple-double and tallied a total of 41 triple-doubles. This season, Westbrook became the second player ever to average a triple-double and broke Robertson’s once-thought-unbreakable record by posting 42 triple-doubles. Another NBA record that Westbrook set was that he scored at least 50 points in three of his triple-double performances. He also was the first player to ever record a triple-double without missing a shot.

The magnitude of the triple-double and how impressive of an individual performance it is is hard to comprehend, especially at the rate in which Westbrook churned them out. Heading into this season, the average NBA season had about 35 triple-doubles for the entire league, all season. Westbrook single-handedly outpaced the league average with 42 triple-doubles. And not only was Westbrook piling up the assists and steals, he led the NBA in scoring with an astounding 31.6 points per game.

One of the main arguments against Westbrook is that Harden led the Rockets to a better record than the Thunder. Although wins are important, it is not like the Thunder are a bad team. Westbrook still led them to the playoffs, which usually is enough to win MVP. Westbrook put up arguably the best individual statistical season in NBA history and with the postseason added to his already impressive individual resume, how could he not be the league MVP?