I think one of the main reasons that is, is that Stephen A can be outright disrespectful sometimes, and I dont mean the funny way, I mean the literal disrespectful way. Look how he treats Max Kellerman, its even worse. I like watching Undisputed because although they disagree, they have an ACTUAL respect for each other. Stephen A Smith doesnt respect his coworkers, and for me, it makes it hard to watch most of the time.
Outlaw 2 well said! stephen a seems to get defensive and insulting all the time when he's about to lose a debate to max (which is probably about 80% of the time)
Anton Poell right. when Stephen is losing the debate, he always resorts to calling the other person an idiot and ridiculous because he doesn't want to accept the fact that he's wrong and about to lose the argument. i like first take but it gets annoying after hearing Stephen act the way he does after a while.
P Dun King James IS basketball, if we talking ball, I'm talking my man, King of Akron Ohio, born 1984, to one Gloria James, baddest man on the planet 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Because the topic was about Skip proclaiming that Westbrook is the runaway MVP in his opinion, not a Westbrook vs Harden debate.To refute that, Shannon provided comparisons to Lebron. Perfectly valid.
P Dun well, he's right tho. also, do we really say that Lebron doesnt play hard? he plays just as hard as anyone you can imagine after going to 6 straight finals...
Didn't he go off for 38 points not too long ago? 🤔 Deron is washed up, but he's still a reliable veteran player, and an above average back up point guard.
Suraj Nair well theres a guy named lebron on his team. lebron is one of the greatest passers/playmakers of all time. i admit kyrie meeds to improve his playmaking ALOT. but again bron is primary ballhandler. plus kyrie doesnt have full control pf the offense+42% usage like russ
runbho710 By what metric is LeBron one of the greatest passer/playmakers of all time period? I'd understand if you said one of the best or the best forward playmakers. But that's not what you said.
Remarkable SeiF No he didn't. 14-15 half the team was draft picks. That's not our fault that the team chemistry was so good that it made our bench better than Harden's bench.
Lol Lebron has teammates who know how to properly run an offense. When Westbrook is on the floor he leads every single attack because nobody can create shots. Lebron has Kyrie at the PG so 44 mins for Lebron =/= 44 mins for Westbrook. Completely different responsibilities. Shannon also compares Lebron's team to Westbrook and talks about trust. Who on the thunder can make shots? Roberson cant even shoot ft, 40%?!? Oladipo has been horrid all series. Steven Adam scores on putbacks. You wanna compare this trash line-up to Westbrooks. LMAOOOO. Shannon is being disingenuous with his anti-Westbrook arguments.
Mike D you are right but skip does the same with lebron. he said that lebron wasn't good in the pacers series because Paul george isn't LeBron james. it makes no sense
SheLovezRobert they don't play the same Westbrook has a 100% pace all the time while harden tends to have a sort of LeBron esc mindset, if he needs to go off he will (unless off game like yesterday) if not he won't and will feed his team more. Also harden doesn't play with the athleticism west does he's not that type of player. Harden also focuses on making his teammates better while west has a Kobe like mentality you could say. Just because both are ball dominant doesn't mean they play the same
Dumbbells Only harden just has a slower pace, with a way better team so he doesn't have to do much Westbrook do have a kobe,Ai mindset he has to do everything
nah east is kinda interesting because of how even it is right now. Any team can come out of a series. And the memphis-spurs games are great. I feel it's been an exciting first round.
I used to say I loved watching Stephen A. and Skip go at it on First Take, but I have to add that watching Shannon and Skip go at it is much more entertaining, in my opinion.
The problem with that argument is his shooting % he is an amazing PG but I think if he was say 20 10 10 with like a 45% shooting his team would be considerably better, instead he chucks up shots that are contested all the time trying to draw fouls.
anybody else see the blown call when harden pushed off in the last few seconds on the play when Westbrook almost stole the ball? wonder what could've happened if that play gets called
carlos gutierrez they foul Roberson again lol and y'all down 1... have to foul Rockets up 3... rockets foul again Okc fouls again... Repeats till game is over and rockets win or a slim chance miracle 3 for the tie.
Edson Charlotin you're not seeing my point. if that offensive foul is called then thunder have the ball and can take out Robertson and have the ball only down 2 points at that time
This whole series has been played through the Refs, let's me real. Players go down the court intent on getting a foul call some how. Especially that bogus call where a Rocket player will reach out and hook their arm on another Thunder player just for three free throws. Isn't that literally a more extreme rip move that KD used to do? Only difference is the ball handler is literally grabbing the defender, not catching them reaching in. Don't mean to complain but I'm sure we all want to see two mvp's play basketball, not look for calls. 😴
You try playing on a sprained ankle. When Harden was heathy he was averaging 40 points at an impressive 49% clip from the field in the three games prior.
Everybody is saying that Rockets have a superior bench, yes they do, but how about the starting lineup? How about a starting center who is -25 in 18 minutes? How about the player with second highest salary in the team who is a stretch 4 and hits only 14.3% of his threes? Roberson outplayed Ariza in this series by a large margin as well. Yes, Rockets have many more scorers, but Thunders are much bigger, stronger, more athletic. Thunders' superior starting lineup makes up for their deficit in bench.
FlightBlight * why couldn't Kobe Carmelo and Howard not play in the system Bc they didn't buy in how can you discredit him when he had to change almost his entire game for it
It's just different style of basketball, MDA and the Rockets are always to out-shoot, out-score the opponents. They have decent shooters and decent scorers, but their defense and rebound is very poor; Thunders, on the other side, is a more defensive minded team, and is much more physical. That's why Kanter, an elite low post scorer, gets very few minutes in this series. Anderson, Lou and Gordon are all defensive liabilities like Kanter, but MDA is willing to play them. If they are in the Thunders team, their playing time will be very limited, like Kanter.
Can somebody please explain to me what's Shannon point? Does he want Westbrook to average 20 assists and 30 pts per game or something? It's clear that Westbrook has zero help and yet he averaged a trip-dub for the season, give that man the MVP already.
mwgta2 Zero help check the box score stop diminishing the thunder they can ball look at oladipo Jeremy Grant and Steven Adams they played great they lost the game when Westbrook shot two of the stupidest threes I've ever seen one that airballed badly when you're shooting that bad look for your teamates that are shooting well
mwgta2 it's because they both have great numbers that are very similar, and if you're pro harden you go for victory and if you're pro Westbrook you go for supporting cast comparison. The problem is people diminish the Thunder supporting cast even though the structure of the team is to help Westbrook box score rather than focus on winning games. With harden it's the fact that his coach and the system he is running is inflating his stats and he has a team that is overall better. Shannon can't understand why no matter the outcome Westbrook gets a pass or full credit from guys like skip when Lebron who was coming up was performing on a high level was being scrutinized and continues to be scrutinized even if lebrons performance sometimes triumphs Westbrook (though this season that does not happen has much)
I think Shannon's point was that Westbrook should stop playing hero ball in the fourth quarter and keep his teammates in the game. People always says he has no help but he doesn't really ask for any. It's more of a "stay outta my way" approach which will never work in the playoffs. Lebron has help yeah but he also makes his teammates better and I think that's a trait Westbrook is sorely lacking.
Shannon lost with that "why does he have to rest?" and you know he had o bring Lebron into the argument. He also compared Lebron's 2 all stars and pretty solid cast to Russ's subpar(to be nice)
IIFriskiesII Did u watch game 3? The cavs were down 26 and lebron with those 2 all stars on the bench came back and won the game. You might have also forgotten that he did all that with one of the worst bench in the league. The cavs bench is ranked 26th in the league but he managed to comback 26 down with them. The cavs are also 0-8 without lebron and when he sits on the bench they suffer drastically.
You say apart from the starting 5, I agree but the starting 5 is so much better than Russ's. 20-25pts and 6ast from Unc, 18pts 10rev from K.love, and 12pts and 11rebs(all general numbers) is so much better than anything from Russ's entire team
IIFriskiesII Thats why i focused on game 3 cuz lebron came back from 26 down while doing it mostly with the bench players while love and kyrie sat on the bench. Lebron has proven he can lead his team with or without all stars. Remember all the 50,60 win seasons the cavs had with just lebron leading a team as the only superstar.
Anthony Draghi What % did harden shoot? Who is helping russ when he has a bad game like hard had yesterday? Nene, Gordon and lou combined for 64 pt from the bench.
DurtyHarry2029 these stats are stupid kawhi lebron curry all these people have far better percentages and are a lot more consistent Russel is clear MVP it shouldn't be a debate harden has been great but it's nonsense to discredit Russel especially with his team
Anthony Draghi If shooting percentage meant that much to MVP voters Deandre would be in the lead or if wins were the most important Curry would be MVP. Stop bringing up random irrelevant stats. It's based on overall regular season performance. Russ is MVP and this discussion ended like a month ago
Shannon speaks facts. Westbrook fanboys like Skip completely ignore them, cover their ears, and yell "MVP MVP MVP!!!!" Westbrook has gotten so many passes this year from the media and casual fans it's insane.
ok heres a nice fact if you like facts in 8th minute of the 4th quater they showed a nice statistic from the game Russell Westbrook played 31 of 39 minutes during the 31 minutes when he was in the game the team was + 20 more points than the rockets, during the 8 min of him sitting on the bench they were -18 points that just tells you alot about the team.
When will the NBA implement a best season of the year award and an mvp? You could just give all the past MVP's the best season of the year award and we could go from here so two people could possibly win every year. People are changing what MVP means. Russell had the best season, LeBron is the MVP plain and simple.
he's not wrong though. Bron is the most VALUABLE player. 100% you'd take bron on your team over russ and you lost if you wouldn't. I'm a huge russ fanboy aswell
Alex Lala I don't think lebron has played like the most valuable player this year. He seems like he was just strolling through the east. But idk. Just my opinion.
Ferdinand Herrmann no um he actually didn't ... he brought westbrooks team percentages but all those shots he created for them hence why he had 14 assist
He ain't on the wrong side of history. Compare this season to 2006 and 2015, the MVP of these seasons had worse stats vs. their runner-ups but they had better team records.
The fact that Westbrick is still getting all of these rebounds in the playoffs, proves that he's obsessed with these Triple Doubles. Their team has no ball movement because it's either Westbrick chucking up a shot, or Westbrick running down the shot clock, and chucking the ball to a teammate, forcing them to shoot so he can get an assist. Makes me sick that people praise him...
I think James Harden is the MVP because he had to switch his whole mindset to point guard and he really did get better. You can't just say that James Harden has more help than Russ. Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Lou Williams, and Nene just played a amazing season and James really did trust them and he passed to him and ended up 3rd in assists well i think 3rd. There is a case for Russell too. It is ture that his team would not even get 10 wins without him but his players are doing anything because Russ is not trusting them. Andre Roberson, Victor Olidapo, and Steven Adams all had great seasons but this season because Russ is not passing to them, they are having horrible seasons. That is why Russell needs to learn how to trust his teammates more.
Ballin Too they have no chemistry because everyone is used to Westbrook holding the ball all the time. How can they perform when they never touch the ball
I'd say that Russ only having 4 assists in 4 games in the 4th quarter is a pretty damn useful stat for backing up his argument. Shannon just took his sweet time bringing it up.
When westbrook wins he is hailed majorly. when they lose Oh russ has no help. Nene is a 13 year vet. Basically a old man looking like a young Hakeem Olajuwon. Clint Capela the next david robinson I guess. Harden has a couple guys who can play but they aren't going to be mistaken for a all stars. I won't be shocked if Russ gets mVP he balled no doubt. Can we stop diminishing Russ's team please. They can play.
Jessica Sims Jessica Sims at the end of the day thunder are garbage without Russ take him off that team and replace him with anther point guard they won't even sniff a playoff series. And yes Russ is winning MVP he's already gotten the most votes it just won't be announced until June
+IamOBrianNewell Please...his team mates all suck. Russell could cut the cheese, cut the rug and still not make the cut with these duds. The only cutting that needs to be done is they need to cut most of his team mates. When Russell sits out or rests these guys never show up. If they could play, it would show during these times. They'd rise to the occasion, they'd show their skills. They have no skills to show.
WITLESSMASS no. There's zero ball movement in that team and a horrible bad coaching. That's why the lost. Westbrook doesn't know how to be a pg; yes! He can make 10 assist but there's no involment
IamOBrianNewell you have to have players scoring to be a point guard like that. olidipo is probably the only player they have who can create some kind of offense but it has been someqhat small lately.
lawreneph I watched this game live and RW and the team played amazing in the first 2 1/2 quarters and this was largely because of defensive effort and RW distributing the ball. There offence broke down the moment he started playing hero ball and that is the main reason they lost in the end. In the 4 quarter it was brick after brick by RW, jump shot after jump shot he settled for that inside of doing the things that worked well for him and the team in the start
IamOBrianNewell I hear what you are saying. The problem I have is that people saying it's all Westbrooks fault when it's not. When that is absurd because nobody on that team can distribute the ball or score the ball like he does for them. He puts them in position to win and be in the playoffs. He's not a bad player at all. They simply can't do it without him that's my point I'm trying to make. The man has to be perfect in order for them to win. He's not allowed any mistakes which is why they won't be able to beat Houston because no one is perfect. Like Skip says he's not superhuman. LeBron is not even perfect. The problem is he's not exposed everytime he makes a mistake because he has great teammates to help with those issues who can actually score and take the pressure off of him. Westbrook doesn't have any of that. No one is perfect by any means. They simply can't do it on the strength of Westbrook alone. Houston had 3 players off the bench with 18 or more points smh lol c'mon man. Give the man his due. He's doing all he can. If he was any less of himself they wouldn't even be in the playoffs. But they wouldnt even be in the playoffs without him.
Not gonna lie, that was a crazy stat that Shannon gave at the end. WB needs to learn how to win with his team instead of winning by himself. The way the thunder played the beginning of these last two games was amazing because westbrook actually allowed the ball to move.
Westbrook such a stat padder Dude has 10 assist first half then finish the game with 14? Okc plays better when Westbrook gets the team involved they play so much better other than when he's trying to be the hero and take all the shots
Hey DaRealplug89 Idiot All that for what? Okc is still not winning lol. The point is Westbrook needs to pass more often especially when he is missing too many shots.
SERIOUS QUESTION FOR ALL WESTBRICK FANS: if Russ averages a triple double next yr again and the thunder finish as a 6-8th seed does westbrick deserve MVP again.. how long are you gonna continue to support mediocrity??
ProfessorFinesser There's nothing mediocre about averaging a trip dub and making the playoffs with WB's talent. It's crazy the year someone averages a trip dub suddenly they're not impressive.
DaRealplug89 😂he had one of the best shooters in the league on his team for like 8 yrs. Plus one of the best stretch 4s in the league. Morrow was on the thunder before. Hes had shooters before bruh.
Westbrook should be MVP in my opinion, but I also believe that his team would perform so much better if they could actually touch the ball more. They get so accustomed to watching him hog the ball and try to do everything, that when he comes out of the game they have no chemistry and can't be expected to suddenly figure it out.
A lot people say Westbrook shouldn't win MVP because his team will lose in the first round, but didn't Dirk lose in the first round to the warriors back in 07 when he got his MVP. So let's not hate and appreciate greatness
Can they stop talking bout mvp lmao the race is over, rockets 3-1 okc first round exit kekkekekekekkekeke second most attempted shots besides russel are 10 from adams (8-10) oladipo (7-10) maybe just give your teammates more shots , AND with all that said, what ist this MVP comming to ? a guy looses shooting unter 40% and people say mvp ? Lmao KEKEKEKKEKEKEKEKKE
HESO MELO 3 of hardens teammates had more points than him what player on okc can do that harden will be out round 2 harden had a great season but with great teammates Russel had a historic season with mugs
HESO MELO maybe he should get them more shots but he always has to have the ball in his hands and when he's on the bench he clearly loses hope in his teammates because he always leaves them with a 10-15 point lead and what happens -40 whilst Russel is on the bench you call that help 😂😂😂😂😂😂
MR NICEGUY harden had a more historic year than Westbrook the triple doubles are great but harden led his team to the 9th best offense ever and had the most points created in history not to mention being the first player with 2000 points and assists
Why is only the bench being brought up? The Thunder starters outside of Russ have crushed the Rockets starters outside of Harden. That's how they have been building up big leads. The Rockets have also outscored the Thunder by like 26 WITH Russ on the court in the 4th.
Shannon yelling about Russ having "only 4 assists" in the second half. That's a good number for a half considering only 6 players (5 point guards and Lebron) average more than 8 assists per game. So that "only 4" is above the league average in assists per half. He did get players involved, that's why he had 14 assists in the game and 10 in the first half to get people involved. Usually role players don't shoot much, even if they are pretty hot, that's why Grant only had 5 shots, because while he was perfect, he doesn't usually shoot that much and you can't expect that he stays hot from the field (especially since all of his shots were dunks/layups, not jumpers). The game really came down to the fact that Roberson couldn't make a free throw, and I understand he is in for defense on Harden, but from the 4:30 mark to the 2 minute mark, Donovan should have had him on the bench so they couldn't hack him 70 feet from the basket and lose possession after possession to poor free throw shooting.
Do you agree?
Harden should/will win MVP.
In his sweetest dreams.
UNDISPUTED ON FS1 Yes
UNDISPUTED ON FS1 no bc MVP is a regular season award and we are in the playoffs. Based off the regular season yeah he should be the MVP
No
Although I miss seeing Skip with Steven A, gotta admit Skip and Shannon seems to have better chemistry together.
I think one of the main reasons that is, is that Stephen A can be outright disrespectful sometimes, and I dont mean the funny way, I mean the literal disrespectful way. Look how he treats Max Kellerman, its even worse. I like watching Undisputed because although they disagree, they have an ACTUAL respect for each other.
Stephen A Smith doesnt respect his coworkers, and for me, it makes it hard to watch most of the time.
Outlaw 2 well said! stephen a seems to get defensive and insulting all the time when he's about to lose a debate to max (which is probably about 80% of the time)
Anton Poell
right. when Stephen is losing the debate, he always resorts to calling the other person an idiot and ridiculous because he doesn't want to accept the fact that he's wrong and about to lose the argument. i like first take but it gets annoying after hearing Stephen act the way he does after a while.
clinton washington but the quality of the debates were much higher when he was with Stephen
Facts
Joy up there looking like a snack!
i don't know why she is there smh
a snack? how bout a feast....
Boo Taylor a feast fit for a king
Yall killing me 😂
KION BROWN the King of Akron born of Gloria James
Okc is horrible without Westbrook they would win about 15 to 20 games
you could say Steve Nash had more help than Kobe in 2005/06. But Steve Nash still became the MVP
The Flash 2024 And everyone looks back and think Nash's MVPs were robbery on Shaq and Kobe
and that logic defeats the purpose of the award. it's the most valuable player, not the best player on the better team.
The Flash 2024 everybody knows Kobe shoulda won the MVP but the Colorado incident put a stop to that
Michael Lopez look at past mvps. its always been like that. but since hes averaging a trip doub, the media are riding him big time.
The Flash 2024 who said Nash deserved it?
6:02 - 6:10... Made my day. LOL
leave it to Shannon sharp to bring up leflop in a Westbrook vs harden debate
P Dun King James IS basketball, if we talking ball, I'm talking my man, King of Akron Ohio, born 1984, to one Gloria James, baddest man on the planet
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
P Dun *legod
Like Skip isn't doing that in every debate lol. They can't keep LeBron out of their minds.
Because the topic was about Skip proclaiming that Westbrook is the runaway MVP in his opinion, not a Westbrook vs Harden debate.To refute that, Shannon provided comparisons to Lebron. Perfectly valid.
P Dun well, he's right tho. also, do we really say that Lebron doesnt play hard? he plays just as hard as anyone you can imagine after going to 6 straight finals...
Damn is he supposed to average 20 rebounds and assists
Ry he suppose to keep doing what got him the lead, instead of hero ball
Ry that's exactly what shannon made it sound like 😂😂
I'm like..What?!
neirad537 u can't do what got u the lead if ya team loses the lead as soon as u hit the bench
AFCG K smart guy right here
also u gotta take into account that the other coach will try to put a plug in the leak, by 4th quarter he's seen enough game to do it effectively
Now that Deron Williams playing with LeBron now all of a sudden hes cold, you can't be serious😂😂😂
Didn't he go off for 38 points not too long ago? 🤔 Deron is washed up, but he's still a reliable veteran player, and an above average back up point guard.
Knicks 4 Life I thought he was always good? He's a former top 5 PG... and probably would start on 70% of the teams in the NBA
Caped Baldy sure buddy...
Shannon has too cool down on the Lebron cheerleading thing... this was about Russ man
Giannis is becoming a tall version of Russell Westbrook.
Avi D way smarter, plays way better D... will prob be better 22 year old Russ was cancer
Avi D I couldn't agree more I thought I was the only person thinking that I don't see them playing together but if they did it would be crazy
Edson Charlotin He's much longer so of course he's going to have better D
Avi D i was thinking a longer kawhi but actually yah Russell
Aaron Lamar AYOOOOOOOOOOO
Wtf is shannon on? Kyrie had 0 assists for the WHOLE game. as a pg thats disgraceful
Suraj Nair #factswhyweneedLebron
Suraj Nair well theres a guy named lebron on his team. lebron is one of the greatest passers/playmakers of all time. i admit kyrie meeds to improve his playmaking ALOT. but again bron is primary ballhandler. plus kyrie doesnt have full control pf the offense+42% usage like russ
runbho710 the fact that you just said Lebron was one of the greatest playmakers of all time makes me question my life
Asher Andrew ok bruh but he is
runbho710 By what metric is LeBron one of the greatest passer/playmakers of all time period? I'd understand if you said one of the best or the best forward playmakers. But that's not what you said.
Im in tears when Shannon yelled SKEEEEEEAPPPP!!!! 😂
Why are we still debating this ? Russ already won it really doesn't matter anymore (this is a fact he has way more first place votes )
Commandosoap777 how do you kniw that? just curious
Commandosoap777 Check Kia MVP website
Commandosoap777 Nothing else to talk about
R-NIS Sbnations been tracking the votes since the end of the season, and after 62 votes counted out of 100, Rissell clinched the MVP
ELCRACK 6869 damn
Didn't Curry have more help than Harden back in 14-15?
Remarkable SeiF was curry on the bench and flopping vs harden in West finals? and his team still winning?
+Ballin Too What?
Remarkable SeiF No he didn't. 14-15 half the team was draft picks. That's not our fault that the team chemistry was so good that it made our bench better than Harden's bench.
+lua lomu You do realize that better performers equals more help right? smh
67-15 also? Idk it’s kinda hard not to win MVP when you have that kind of record.
tbh both players are inefficient
Skip and Shannon have such a good relationship. Its awesome
Lol Lebron has teammates who know how to properly run an offense. When Westbrook is on the floor he leads every single attack because nobody can create shots. Lebron has Kyrie at the PG so 44 mins for Lebron =/= 44 mins for Westbrook.
Completely different responsibilities. Shannon also compares Lebron's team to Westbrook and talks about trust. Who on the thunder can make shots? Roberson cant even shoot ft, 40%?!? Oladipo has been horrid all series. Steven Adam scores on putbacks. You wanna compare this trash line-up to Westbrooks. LMAOOOO. Shannon is being disingenuous with his anti-Westbrook arguments.
Westbrook should leave OKC next season!
Aba & Preach hardens teammates have been struggling except Williams nene and maybe capella
I agree Skip! You're soo right!
Shannon will literally find any excuse to discredit Russ, its so predictable.
Mike D Ah, Skip will egregiously find any excuse to discredit Lebron who's one of the greatest players of all time. Mike D please go back to sleep.
Mike D you are right but skip does the same with lebron. he said that lebron wasn't good in the pacers series because Paul george isn't LeBron james. it makes no sense
Well I'm not Skip, and I'm not talking about Lebron lol
Khary Malone he's not talking about LeBron or skip. he's talking about Shannon discrediting Russ which is true
Mike D Yall make excuses for him shooting under 40% in this series
8:58 "SKIEEEEEEUUUUUUUPPPPP" ROFL
This just gets always so personal😂😂😂😂
Tbh I have to admit at this point Russ deserves it and I'm not even a fan of him or his play style.
Dumbbells Only if ur a fan of harden ur a fan of Russ PERIOD THEY PLAY THE SAME JUST WESTBROOK PLAYS HARDEN
SheLovezRobert they don't play the same Westbrook has a 100% pace all the time while harden tends to have a sort of LeBron esc mindset, if he needs to go off he will (unless off game like yesterday) if not he won't and will feed his team more. Also harden doesn't play with the athleticism west does he's not that type of player. Harden also focuses on making his teammates better while west has a Kobe like mentality you could say. Just because both are ball dominant doesn't mean they play the same
true russ is mvp
Dumbbells Only Facts.
Dumbbells Only harden just has a slower pace, with a way better team so he doesn't have to do much
Westbrook do have a kobe,Ai mindset he has to do everything
excellent final point Shannon.
This man Shannon find any reason to bring up Lebron
6:08 had me dead😂
Why are we talking about MVP in the playoffs? lol
Commandosoap777 Nothing else to talk about. It's the only interesting thing in the playoffs rn
nah east is kinda interesting because of how even it is right now. Any team can come out of a series. And the memphis-spurs games are great. I feel it's been an exciting first round.
Tells you something about the NBA right now don't it?
I used to say I loved watching Stephen A. and Skip go at it on First Take, but I have to add that watching Shannon and Skip go at it is much more entertaining, in my opinion.
steveland76 if you're looking for comedic material but debates were far better with Stephen
Shannon picks harden for MVP because of the name "James"
Love how Leshannon randomly yells lol "pick ya voive up skip"
I heard Shannon say Lebron and stopped the video.
Crazy to come back and see the slander they gave him now
For once I agree with Skip
Nickar L
Shannon ABSOLUTELY HUMILIATED Skip at the end!!! I loved it!
I rarely agree with Skip, but this is a compelling argument for Russell. I agree with it all the way.
Having 4 rebounds and 4 assists along with 18 points in a half is pretty good might I add
Is this still up for debate? Westbrook finished the season averaging a triple double.
The problem with that argument is his shooting % he is an amazing PG but I think if he was say 20 10 10 with like a 45% shooting his team would be considerably better, instead he chucks up shots that are contested all the time trying to draw fouls.
t a a triple double isnt value it is just a random
He shot 42 or 43% to hardens 44 whats the big deal lol. People really reach these days and dont worry westbrook won the MVP already. 64/100 votes
"Sun rising with an overcoat"
anybody else see the blown call when harden pushed off in the last few seconds on the play when Westbrook almost stole the ball? wonder what could've happened if that play gets called
carlos gutierrez they foul Roberson again lol and y'all down 1... have to foul
Rockets up 3...
rockets foul again
Okc fouls again...
Repeats till game is over and rockets win or a slim chance miracle 3 for the tie.
Edson Charlotin you're not seeing my point. if that offensive foul is called then thunder have the ball and can take out Robertson and have the ball only down 2 points at that time
carlos gutierrez Westbrook caught the ball dribbled and lost it after that missed call if he doesn't lose it and makes the shot no one would care
carlos gutierrez no they get three throws. Rockets are still up thunder foul and it goes on
Shannon with the Cold Hard Facts.
This whole series has been played through the Refs, let's me real. Players go down the court intent on getting a foul call some how. Especially that bogus call where a Rocket player will reach out and hook their arm on another Thunder player just for three free throws. Isn't that literally a more extreme rip move that KD used to do? Only difference is the ball handler is literally grabbing the defender, not catching them reaching in. Don't mean to complain but I'm sure we all want to see two mvp's play basketball, not look for calls. 😴
Keyshawn Jackson you're right
Finally thank u so much Shannon sharpe
Harden was playing on a sprained ankle but don't let the facts get in the way of skips narrative
javad javad excuses
You try playing on a sprained ankle. When Harden was heathy he was averaging 40 points at an impressive 49% clip from the field in the three games prior.
javad javad I played thru a partially torn acl dont give me that try playing thru a sprainbankle bs
SheLovezRobert u?? u played in the nba?
M L nope I play football
When Shanon says Skip I be dead 😂😂😂
If its 1 against 5 then where does Russell get his assists from?
the odd occasion when Kanter is on the court or Andre Roberson shocks the world by not shooting an airball.
u dont get it smh
I agree with Skip. It's easy to trust your teammates when they have talent.
Everybody is saying that Rockets have a superior bench, yes they do, but how about the starting lineup? How about a starting center who is -25 in 18 minutes? How about the player with second highest salary in the team who is a stretch 4 and hits only 14.3% of his threes? Roberson outplayed Ariza in this series by a large margin as well.
Yes, Rockets have many more scorers, but Thunders are much bigger, stronger, more athletic. Thunders' superior starting lineup makes up for their deficit in bench.
Gedi Zhou its the system that separates them
FlightBlight * why couldn't Kobe Carmelo and Howard not play in the system Bc they didn't buy in how can you discredit him when he had to change almost his entire game for it
It's just different style of basketball, MDA and the Rockets are always to out-shoot, out-score the opponents. They have decent shooters and decent scorers, but their defense and rebound is very poor; Thunders, on the other side, is a more defensive minded team, and is much more physical. That's why Kanter, an elite low post scorer, gets very few minutes in this series. Anderson, Lou and Gordon are all defensive liabilities like Kanter, but MDA is willing to play them. If they are in the Thunders team, their playing time will be very limited, like Kanter.
Gedi Zhou you need shooters to win in this league bro
Scott Bennici And Thunders have decent shooters, their 3P% is higher than the Rockets this series.
damn 45 total assist in 4 gms but 4 in the 4th quarter total of all 4 gms...........thts a huge stat right there
Can somebody please explain to me what's Shannon point? Does he want Westbrook to average 20 assists and 30 pts per game or something? It's clear that Westbrook has zero help and yet he averaged a trip-dub for the season, give that man the MVP already.
mwgta2 Zero help check the box score stop diminishing the thunder they can ball look at oladipo Jeremy Grant and Steven Adams they played great they lost the game when Westbrook shot two of the stupidest threes I've ever seen one that airballed badly when you're shooting that bad look for your teamates that are shooting well
David Anthony russ 4th quarter 15 points 5-11 . Oh so u didn't see harden just flop the entire game man please shut up
David Anthony right like when Andre Robertson went 2/12 from 3 right? blaim russ? right not that pathetic bench for Christ sake
mwgta2 it's because they both have great numbers that are very similar, and if you're pro harden you go for victory and if you're pro Westbrook you go for supporting cast comparison. The problem is people diminish the Thunder supporting cast even though the structure of the team is to help Westbrook box score rather than focus on winning games. With harden it's the fact that his coach and the system he is running is inflating his stats and he has a team that is overall better. Shannon can't understand why no matter the outcome Westbrook gets a pass or full credit from guys like skip when Lebron who was coming up was performing on a high level was being scrutinized and continues to be scrutinized even if lebrons performance sometimes triumphs Westbrook (though this season that does not happen has much)
I think Shannon's point was that Westbrook should stop playing hero ball in the fourth quarter and keep his teammates in the game. People always says he has no help but he doesn't really ask for any. It's more of a "stay outta my way" approach which will never work in the playoffs. Lebron has help yeah but he also makes his teammates better and I think that's a trait Westbrook is sorely lacking.
@ 0:58 "Pick your voice up Skiiiieeeeeeuuuuup!" XD
They talk about having researchers so they should know Roberson was never a mid 70% freethrow shooter.
James Ber I think they showed the start during the game, it was his rookie year I believe but I really don't kno
In his rookie year he averaged 70% not mid 70%.
skip killed this debate killed it
Wtf 1 on 5, makes it sound like Russell scored them 109 points
Marwan Nakouzi you aren't listening correctly
Julian Erlandson And you don't read properly
The Hack a Reberson was ridiculous tho! But it's fair fight!
Shannon lost with that "why does he have to rest?" and you know he had o bring Lebron into the argument. He also compared Lebron's 2 all stars and pretty solid cast to Russ's subpar(to be nice)
IIFriskiesII Did u watch game 3? The cavs were down 26 and lebron with those 2 all stars on the bench came back and won the game. You might have also forgotten that he did all that with one of the worst bench in the league. The cavs bench is ranked 26th in the league but he managed to comback 26 down with them. The cavs are also 0-8 without lebron and when he sits on the bench they suffer drastically.
Bernard Brunu so you are saying Lebron's supporting cast is worse or on the same level with Russ's
Kyrie and Klove aren't really performing
But he just said it to tease skip
You say apart from the starting 5, I agree but the starting 5 is so much better than Russ's. 20-25pts and 6ast from Unc, 18pts 10rev from K.love, and 12pts and 11rebs(all general numbers) is so much better than anything from Russ's entire team
IIFriskiesII Thats why i focused on game 3 cuz lebron came back from 26 down while doing it mostly with the bench players while love and kyrie sat on the bench. Lebron has proven he can lead his team with or without all stars. Remember all the 50,60 win seasons the cavs had with just lebron leading a team as the only superstar.
The way Skip talks about Westbrook and MJ , and believes they are gods to man, has me feeling like he'd been a great fit in the movie Get Out. Lol
Should be runaway MVP??? What % did he shoot? Did he win???!!
Anthony Draghi What % did harden shoot?
Who is helping russ when he has a bad game like hard had yesterday?
Nene, Gordon and lou combined for 64 pt from the bench.
K Dot oh I never said harden should be MVP....
Westbrook- 35 ppg 11-29.5 37% shooting, season avg's
Harden- 33 ppg 9-20 44% shooting, season avg's
Harden imo is the MVP
DurtyHarry2029 these stats are stupid kawhi lebron curry all these people have far better percentages and are a lot more consistent Russel is clear MVP it shouldn't be a debate harden has been great but it's nonsense to discredit Russel especially with his team
Anthony Draghi If shooting percentage meant that much to MVP voters Deandre would be in the lead or if wins were the most important Curry would be MVP. Stop bringing up random irrelevant stats. It's based on overall regular season performance. Russ is MVP and this discussion ended like a month ago
Why did skip start out shouting😂😂
Shannon just be talking. Hahaha
I love these two lol
Yeah a runaway MVP that wont get out of the 1st round
The Flash 2024 so did dirk? It's a regular season award not postseason
The Flash 2024 Lol you think the playoffs should help there MVP cases lol.
The Flash 2024 Where is your MVP Flash?
Ujjal Ray who cares it's a bad look. He's only the 4th mvp to get knocked out in the 1st round. All the other 3 have a ring and finals mvp
The Flash 2024 it's a good thing the mvp only considers the regular season then Sherlock
Skip is so right. no help vs help
Shannon speaks facts. Westbrook fanboys like Skip completely ignore them, cover their ears, and yell "MVP MVP MVP!!!!"
Westbrook has gotten so many passes this year from the media and casual fans it's insane.
JJ Nelson bro L get lost u must didn't watch a single game
it cause kd left him, next season he will prob get full scrutiny if he doesn't change up his game
JJ Nelson harden fanboys like you always ignore the fact that harden flops harder than a fish out of water
ok heres a nice fact if you like facts in 8th minute of the 4th quater they showed a nice statistic from the game Russell Westbrook played 31 of 39 minutes during the 31 minutes when he was in the game the team was + 20 more points than the rockets, during the 8 min of him sitting on the bench they were -18 points that just tells you alot about the team.
JJ Nelson westbrook deserved MVP dude stop hating.
I love how shannon completely spanks skip on such topics. Show them no mercy big fella.
When will the NBA implement a best season of the year award and an mvp? You could just give all the past MVP's the best season of the year award and we could go from here so two people could possibly win every year. People are changing what MVP means. Russell had the best season, LeBron is the MVP plain and simple.
Knicks 4 Life I was liking where u were going with that until u said lebron was MVP lol
he's not wrong though. Bron is the most VALUABLE player. 100% you'd take bron on your team over russ and you lost if you wouldn't. I'm a huge russ fanboy aswell
Alex Lala I don't think lebron has played like the most valuable player this year. He seems like he was just strolling through the east. But idk. Just my opinion.
They were up by 12 in game 2, he sit out for for two minutes and they instantly lose the lead.
Shaye ... stick to football. You're lost bruh. Westbrook should win MVP and you're on the wrong side of history.
The FPV Life he exsposed skip and Westbrook shouldn't be MVP
Ferdinand Herrmann no um he actually didn't ... he brought westbrooks team percentages but all those shots he created for them hence why he had 14 assist
so he actually shot the ball for them. wb isnt a good shot creator
He ain't on the wrong side of history. Compare this season to 2006 and 2015, the MVP of these seasons had worse stats vs. their runner-ups but they had better team records.
SKKKKYYYEEEEPPPPPP
The fact that Westbrick is still getting all of these rebounds in the playoffs, proves that he's obsessed with these Triple Doubles. Their team has no ball movement because it's either Westbrick chucking up a shot, or Westbrick running down the shot clock, and chucking the ball to a teammate, forcing them to shoot so he can get an assist.
Makes me sick that people praise him...
The Avatar him being a great rebounder makes you sick ?
Unkown Bih Most of his rebounds are from him standing under the rim, while leaving his man wide open. That's not good basketball.
2 nifty Hold the ball, run the shot clock down, and chuck it at your teammate so they can shoot while you get an assist.
I think James Harden is the MVP because he had to switch his whole mindset to point guard and he really did get better. You can't just say that James Harden has more help than Russ. Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Lou Williams, and Nene just played a amazing season and James really did trust them and he passed to him and ended up 3rd in assists well i think 3rd. There is a case for Russell too. It is ture that his team would not even get 10 wins without him but his players are doing anything because Russ is not trusting them. Andre Roberson, Victor Olidapo, and Steven Adams all had great seasons but this season because Russ is not passing to them, they are having horrible seasons. That is why Russell needs to learn how to trust his teammates more.
Russ 4 MVP.
IM HERE FOR JOY!!
Westbrook had lots of help that game they only lost when he started shooting 30 foot bombs trying to win impress everyone
Sharp780 L he sits for 2 minutes and they look like trash
Ballin Too they have no chemistry because everyone is used to Westbrook holding the ball all the time. How can they perform when they never touch the ball
bruh they lost because they couldnt make fts and let nene have a career night!
it can't be "this game shows.." for mvp stats. it's a regular season award.
Shannons argument is useless
I'd say that Russ only having 4 assists in 4 games in the 4th quarter is a pretty damn useful stat for backing up his argument. Shannon just took his sweet time bringing it up.
I gotta say shannon does prove a good point. If Russ knows he is not shooting well he should pass the ball to those that are shooting better than him.
As much as I hate the Rockets, James Harden is the MVP.
OGMillyMillz welp voters thought otherwise Westbrook got way more first place votes
L
@WISC L
OGMillyMillz L
@Soopersil3 L
Skip and Shannon are hilarious
as much as a fan i am of okc and westbrook, shannon was right here :(
not gonna lie, LeShannon did get me at the end with the 4/45asts came in the 4th QTR through 4 Games of the Playoffs.
When westbrook wins he is hailed majorly. when they lose Oh russ has no help. Nene is a 13 year vet. Basically a old man looking like a young Hakeem Olajuwon. Clint Capela the next david robinson I guess. Harden has a couple guys who can play but they aren't going to be mistaken for a all stars. I won't be shocked if Russ gets mVP he balled no doubt. Can we stop diminishing Russ's team please. They can play.
😘
Jessica Sims Jessica Sims at the end of the day thunder are garbage without Russ take him off that team and replace him with anther point guard they won't even sniff a playoff series. And yes Russ is winning MVP he's already gotten the most votes it just won't be announced until June
Jessica Sims what's your IG page Queen
Jessica Sims what do you know you're a girl.
8:58
AWWW SKEEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPP
The loss was RW's fault too much hero ball.
Pass and cut bro will make your team score
+IamOBrianNewell Please...his team mates all suck. Russell could cut the cheese, cut the rug and still not make the cut with these duds. The only cutting that needs to be done is they need to cut most of his team mates. When Russell sits out or rests these guys never show up. If they could play, it would show during these times. They'd rise to the occasion, they'd show their skills. They have no skills to show.
WITLESSMASS no. There's zero ball movement in that team and a horrible bad coaching. That's why the lost. Westbrook doesn't know how to be a pg; yes! He can make 10 assist but there's no involment
IamOBrianNewell you have to have players scoring to be a point guard like that. olidipo is probably the only player they have who can create some kind of offense but it has been someqhat small lately.
lawreneph I watched this game live and RW and the team played amazing in the first 2 1/2 quarters and this was largely because of defensive effort and RW distributing the ball. There offence broke down the moment he started playing hero ball and that is the main reason they lost in the end. In the 4 quarter it was brick after brick by RW, jump shot after jump shot he settled for that inside of doing the things that worked well for him and the team in the start
IamOBrianNewell I hear what you are saying. The problem I have is that people saying it's all Westbrooks fault when it's not. When that is absurd because nobody on that team can distribute the ball or score the ball like he does for them. He puts them in position to win and be in the playoffs. He's not a bad player at all. They simply can't do it without him that's my point I'm trying to make. The man has to be perfect in order for them to win. He's not allowed any mistakes which is why they won't be able to beat Houston because no one is perfect. Like Skip says he's not superhuman. LeBron is not even perfect. The problem is he's not exposed everytime he makes a mistake because he has great teammates to help with those issues who can actually score and take the pressure off of him. Westbrook doesn't have any of that. No one is perfect by any means. They simply can't do it on the strength of Westbrook alone. Houston had 3 players off the bench with 18 or more points smh lol c'mon man. Give the man his due. He's doing all he can. If he was any less of himself they wouldn't even be in the playoffs. But they wouldnt even be in the playoffs without him.
Not gonna lie, that was a crazy stat that Shannon gave at the end. WB needs to learn how to win with his team instead of winning by himself. The way the thunder played the beginning of these last two games was amazing because westbrook actually allowed the ball to move.
Westbrook such a stat padder Dude has 10 assist first half then finish the game with 14? Okc plays better when Westbrook gets the team involved they play so much better other than when he's trying to be the hero and take all the shots
Thank You👍
Hey DaRealplug89 Idiot All that for what? Okc is still not winning lol. The point is Westbrook needs to pass more often especially when he is missing too many shots.
Rudy C smh aka playing perfect because his bums can't score without him
Russell dominated the Rockets on the offensive glass! Maybe you need that researcher Skip. Big old goose egg for Russ on the offensive rebounds.
SERIOUS QUESTION FOR ALL WESTBRICK FANS:
if Russ averages a triple double next yr again and the thunder finish as a 6-8th seed does westbrick deserve MVP again.. how long are you gonna continue to support mediocrity??
ProfessorFinesser There's nothing mediocre about averaging a trip dub and making the playoffs with WB's talent. It's crazy the year someone averages a trip dub suddenly they're not impressive.
Averaging a triple double is mediocrity? He also had like 20 games where he just took control and carried the Thunder to wins
Dirtball Daquan 42% usage rate
Cayde-6 yup exactly. there have been many nba players who have come kinda close to a trip dub but didnt have even close to a 42% usage
DaRealplug89 😂he had one of the best shooters in the league on his team for like 8 yrs. Plus one of the best stretch 4s in the league. Morrow was on the thunder before. Hes had shooters before bruh.
Westbrook should be MVP in my opinion, but I also believe that his team would perform so much better if they could actually touch the ball more. They get so accustomed to watching him hog the ball and try to do everything, that when he comes out of the game they have no chemistry and can't be expected to suddenly figure it out.
Westbrook is the MVP for the first three quarters. But Westbrook is too unreliable in the 4th to be considered the overall season MVP.
Oridginale24 4th 15 points 5-11 is unreliable ? I'm done man
Oridginale24 L
Oridginale24 ain't he statistically the #1 player in the clutch this season? Quit reaching
A lot people say Westbrook shouldn't win MVP because his team will lose in the first round, but didn't Dirk lose in the first round to the warriors back in 07 when he got his MVP. So let's not hate and appreciate greatness
Skip with them excuses
If you watched the game last night you would see how much he means to the team.
skip I'm ENDING YOUR DEBATE. YOY SAY ROCKETS HAVE MORE HELP? EXPLAIN HOW GAMES ARE THIS CLOSE IF THEY SO HAVE MORE HELP LOL? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Cruz From2115 🤔.... You obviously don't watch the games
Because Russ has heavily outplayed harden
Shannon is completely right 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥👀
Can they stop talking bout mvp lmao the race is over, rockets 3-1 okc first round exit kekkekekekekkekeke second most attempted shots besides russel are 10 from adams (8-10) oladipo (7-10) maybe just give your teammates more shots , AND with all that said, what ist this MVP comming to ? a guy looses shooting unter 40% and people say mvp ? Lmao KEKEKEKKEKEKEKEKKE
HESO MELO 3 of hardens teammates had more points than him what player on okc can do that harden will be out round 2 harden had a great season but with great teammates Russel had a historic season with mugs
Difficult to have more points than russel when he shoots 3 times more than you boy
HESO MELO maybe he should get them more shots but he always has to have the ball in his hands and when he's on the bench he clearly loses hope in his teammates because he always leaves them with a 10-15 point lead and what happens -40 whilst Russel is on the bench you call that help 😂😂😂😂😂😂
MR NICEGUY harden had a more historic year than Westbrook the triple doubles are great but harden led his team to the 9th best offense ever and had the most points created in history not to mention being the first player with 2000 points and assists
Ray Lew L bruh get lost
100th percent with Skip
Why is only the bench being brought up? The Thunder starters outside of Russ have crushed the Rockets starters outside of Harden. That's how they have been building up big leads. The Rockets have also outscored the Thunder by like 26 WITH Russ on the court in the 4th.
First time i agree with Skip Lol
im just here for joy
Shannon yelling about Russ having "only 4 assists" in the second half. That's a good number for a half considering only 6 players (5 point guards and Lebron) average more than 8 assists per game. So that "only 4" is above the league average in assists per half. He did get players involved, that's why he had 14 assists in the game and 10 in the first half to get people involved. Usually role players don't shoot much, even if they are pretty hot, that's why Grant only had 5 shots, because while he was perfect, he doesn't usually shoot that much and you can't expect that he stays hot from the field (especially since all of his shots were dunks/layups, not jumpers). The game really came down to the fact that Roberson couldn't make a free throw, and I understand he is in for defense on Harden, but from the 4:30 mark to the 2 minute mark, Donovan should have had him on the bench so they couldn't hack him 70 feet from the basket and lose possession after possession to poor free throw shooting.