NBA 2018 MVP race – final results

(Originally posted on on Friday, 13 April 2018; changed on 27 May 2018)

All the statistical data I used I found on this site:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/

I described my way of calculating the MVP value in this post:
Comparing NBA MVPs

According to the data from the whole 2017-2018 season the final NBA 2018 MVP race list is this (TW means “Team Wins”):

1. James Harden (2017-18):   2390.8   (TW: 65)
2. LeBron James (2017-18):   2049.2   (TW: 50)
3. Kevin Durant (2017-18):   1834.6   (TW: 58)
4. Anthony Davis (2017-18):   1823.8   (TW: 48)
5. Russell Westbrook (2017-18):   1707.9   (TW: 48)
6. Karl-Anthony Towns (2017-18):   1666.6   (TW: 47)
7. DeMar DeRozan (2017-18):   1615.2   (TW: 59)
8. Damian Lillard (2017-18):   1546.5   (TW: 49)
9. Giannis Antetokounmpo (2017-18):   1541.0   (TW: 44)
10. Kyle Lowry (2017-18):   1525.3   (TW: 59)
11. Clint Capela (2017-18):   1475.1   (TW: 65)
12. Chris Paul (2017-18):   1435.1   (TW: 65)
13. Ben Simmons (2017-18):   1402.3   (TW: 52)
14. Nikola Jokic (2017-18):   1375.0   (TW: 46)
15. Stephen Curry (2017-18):   1373.3   (TW: 58)
16. Victor Oladipo (2017-18):   1338.2   (TW: 48)
17. Paul George (2017-18):   1327.1   (TW: 48)
18. LaMarcus Aldridge (2017-18):   1323.0   (TW: 47)
19. Klay Thompson (2017-18):   1303.3   (TW: 58)
20. Jrue Holiday (2017-18):   1279.9   (TW: 48)
21. Kyrie Irving (2017-18):   1278.4   (TW: 55)
22. Joel Embiid (2017-18):   1263.7   (TW: 52)
23. C.J. McCollum (2017-18):   1221.8   (TW: 49)
24. Bradley Beal (2017-18):   1205.1   (TW: 43)
25. Khris Middleton (2017-18):   1177.6   (TW: 44)
26. Draymond Green (2017-18):   1177.0   (TW: 58)
27. Jonas Valanciunas (2017-18):   1150.0   (TW: 59)
28. Eric Gordon (2017-18):   1130.9   (TW: 65)
29. Al Horford (2017-18):   1129.2   (TW: 55)
30. Andre Drummond (2017-18):   1110.8   (TW: 39)

It seems that James Harden should win the MVP award this year. Russell Westbrook averaged triple-double again, but this year his MVP value is significantly lower than last year. LeBron James had a fantastic season individually, but his team won 15 games less than Harden's team.

Interestingly Ben Simmons (a rookie) finished at the 13th place, but I have to also point out that some very good players missed many games, most notably Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving and Joel Embiid.