哈登VS字母哥 MVP 你會選誰?

The media seem fascinated with Harden's incredible scoring binge and have covered it as such, detailing his mounting 30-point games and creating a pursuit of what would've seemed like an untouchable Wilt Chamberlain record just a few months ago. It's why Harden was the clear-cut Vegas favorite to repeat as MVP as recently as last week.

媒體似乎對哈登令人難以置信的得分狂潮感到着迷並且對其進行鋪天蓋地的報導，對他得30分以上的比賽大加描寫，同時期待哈登打破威爾特張伯倫的記錄，而幾個月之前這個記錄看起來遙不可及。這就是爲什麼上週在拉斯維加斯的賭場，人們最看好哈登會連莊MVP。

Two years ago, Harden had a strong MVP case, but Russell Westbrook had a phenomenal narrative: the first player to average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson while on a Kevin Durant-departure revenge tour. Westbrook got more than three times the first-place votes as Harden, who finished second.

兩年前，哈登曾有很好的機會拿下MVP獎盃。但拉塞爾-威斯布魯克書寫了一個現象級的故事：在凱文-杜蘭特離開後，他開啓了自己的復仇之旅，成爲了自奧斯卡-羅伯特森後第一個場均三雙的球員。威斯布魯克拿到的第一選票是哈登的三倍，後者只能屈居第二。

In a victory last month in Golden State, James Harden electrifying 3-pointer between Draymond Green and Klay Thompson to finish off a 44-point, 15-assist, 10-rebound game was a signature MVP moment.

而在上個月擊敗金州勇士的比賽中，哈登就如天神下凡，三分精準，他在德拉蒙德-格林和克萊-湯普森的防守下投中的絕命三分，全場更是怒砍44分10籃板15助攻，這是一個標準的MVP時刻。

So many times the MVP winner is aided by a great narrative that is formed during the season, and this season, Harden absolutely has it.

就以往的情況來說，要贏得MVP，需要在賽季中表現出足夠的故事性。而本賽季，哈登絕對達到這一標準了。

"We played the same exact way last year and we almost made it to the Finals," Harden said, defending the Rockets' style this season. "I don't even care about the points, I'm just trying to win.

“我們就像上賽季那樣打球,那會兒我們幾乎闖進決賽”，哈登說，爲這個賽季火箭的表現辯護，“我不在乎得分，我只想要贏。”

"We had a funky first half of the season. I just did whatever it took to keep our head above water. I was getting double-teams and triple-teams and I was doing whatever it took."

“我們前半個賽季打的不好。我只是竭盡所能來幫助球隊保留希望。我盡力了，在比賽裏被兩人甚至三人包夾。”

Harden's play, Harden's story and Harden's killer highlights are lining up for him.

哈登的表現、哈登的故事和哈登的絕殺時刻都在幫他競爭MVP獎盃。

But just like with Westbrook, who has been accused of chasing triple-doubles, Harden fights against the purists.

但就和威少被人批評有刷三雙的嫌疑一樣，哈登的打球方式也飽受傳統主義者詬病。

Those individuals seem to favor Antetokounmpo, who plays a more classic team-centric style that highlights old-school brute force of going to the rim over new-school efficiency like 3-pointers and free throws.

這些人大多更喜歡字母哥，因爲他以球隊爲中心，並且依靠老派的衝擊籃筐的方式得分，而不是新潮又高效的三分和罰球。

Antetokounmpo is also a terror at the defensive end. Harden is not, though he has developed into more of a defensive playmaker and is third in the league in steals per game. And the Bucks, it is important to point out, own the league's best record at 43-14.

字母哥在防守端的表現也很突出，遠勝哈登，雖然哈登的防守也有進步，並且場均搶斷數在聯盟排第三。但是雄鹿佔有聯盟最好的戰績（43勝14負），這是很重要的一點。

"What is the most valuable player? He sets the tone for our entire organization, our work ethic, our approach to every day," said clearly biased but thoughtful Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer.

“什麼是最有價值球員呢？他爲我們的球隊定下基調，包括我們的工作精神和我們每天打球的方式”，雄鹿隊的教練，邁克-布登霍爾澤自然偏向於自己的弟子，但說得也不無道理。

"You can talk about stats and Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal and things. But when you've changed an entire organization, changed the way people come to work every day and set a tone, that's value to me.

“你大可談論那些比肩威爾特-張伯倫和沙奎爾-奧尼爾的數據。但當你能夠改變一支球隊，改變人們每天工作的方式，並且定下球隊的基調，對我來說那纔是最有價值的。”

"I feel like he's the most valuable player in our league. He's changed things in Milwaukee. He's changed them for the better. We're one of the best teams because of Giannis."

“我認爲揚尼斯配得上一個MVP獎盃。他改變了雄鹿方方面面，他讓整支球隊變得更好了。我們現在是聯盟最強球隊之一，這都是因爲揚尼斯的存在。”

If we're being honest here, if the vote were taken today, Harden wins over Antetokounmpo, and it's probably not that close. There's still roughly a third of the season to be played, of course.

老實說，如果今天就要選出MVP的話，哈登會贏得這座獎盃，他們兩個之間還是有一定的差距。 當然了，賽季還有三分之一沒打呢。

But in the coming weeks, as this topic really heats up and influential voices are asked for their opinion on the matter, the answers could be revealing. There isn't a right or wrong answer per se. Favoring one is not an insult to the other, though this is a point that can often be overlooked.

但在接下來的日子裏，隨着這個話題越發熱門，名宿們會被很多人問到他們的看法，他們的答案也會讓結局愈發清晰。這個問題本身沒有正確或錯誤的答案，支持一人並不是對另一個人的侮辱，儘管這一點經常被人們忽視。

In the end, it's healthy for the NBA if the MVP race is competitive. Having a variety of opinions and styles juices the conversation and makes winning it all the more honorable. If it wasn't debatable and people didn't care, it wouldn't be any fun.

最後，如果MVP爭奪戰很激烈的話，那對NBA來說是好事。百家爭鳴會使輿論更加精彩，也讓贏得MVP成爲一件更加光榮的事。如果毫無爭議且人們漠不關心，那又談何樂趣呢？

This season, the race could be just a little more spicy than usual.

本賽季，這場爭奪戰可能會比平常更加刺激。

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