James Harden After 44-Point Outburst: 'I Am the MVP'

Harden led the Nets to a 113-111 win over the Pistons Friday night while Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving remained out of the lineup.

With recent injuries to MVP front-runners LeBron James and Joel Embiid, the race for the NBA's highest individual honor appears wide open—depending on who you ask, at least. According to Nets star James Harden, the award has his name written all over it.

With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving out of the lineup Friday night against the Pistons, Harden led Brooklyn to a 113-11 win. He scored 44 points with 14 rebounds and eight assists on 14-for-30 shooting, notching his highest scoring output since joining the Nets.

When asked after the game whether or thought he belong in the MVP conversation, Harden's response was direct.

Here’s James Harden tonight when asked if he belongs in the MVP conversation: “I feel like I am the MVP” pic.twitter.com/2D6cKn7xp8

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) March 27, 2021

"I feel like I am the MVP," Harden said. "It's that simple. I don't want to speak individually on myself, but I'm just going to leave it at that. I just try to go out there every single night and give my teammates everything that I can bring to the game."

Without Durant or Irving, Harden grabbed complete control of the Nets' attack. He played 42 minutes and took 22 more shot attempts than his next-highest teammate.

The game was Harden's third 40-point outburst of the season and second with the Nets. On the season, he's averaging 25.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and a league-best 11.2 assists per game. Those numbers stack up nicely to his numbers from his MVP season in 2017-18, when he averaged 30.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists.

The betting odds don't back up Harden's bold claim, though. Vegas Insider has him at +900 to take home his second MVP award, the fifth-best in the league. Nikola Jokic leads the pack at -110, with Embiid at +500, James at +600 and Giannis Antetokounmpo at +800.