Durant picks Harden to win MVP: 'It's his turn'

It wasn't long ago that the Oklahoma City Thunder had one of the most promising young cores in the NBA. Led by Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, the team reached the 2012 NBA Finals.

But that summer, Oklahoma City traded Harden to the Houston Rockets due to financial reasons, and the reigning Sixth Man of the Year watched as Durant won MVP in 2014 and Westbrook hoisted the 2017 Maurice Podoloff Trophy following KD's departure.

Harden was the runner-up to Westbrook last year and Stephen Curry in 2015. This time around, he's the overwhelming favorite to take home the hardware as the leader of the league's No. 1 team.

"It's his turn," Durant told The Athletic's Anthony Slater. "Just give it to him. It's his time to win it."

Related: CP3 says Harden will win MVP, it's 'not even going to be close'

The Beard averages a league-high 30.6 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 61.6 percent, while chipping in 8.8 assists (third), 5.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals (fifth). He also leads the league in PER (29.8), usage (36.2 percent), and win shares (14.5) for the Rockets, who've clinched the top record and home-court advantage throughout the postseason.

Harden, Westbrook, and Durant developing into elite players comes as no surprise to the latter, given how invested they are in the game.

"You got three dudes who really care about basketball," the Golden State Warriors superstar said. "You can't win no MVP if you don't care about the game. And when I say care, I mean really put the work in on the craft.

"I remember trying to beat Russell to the gym ... I remember working out in the summer time with James, six in the morning, really just getting together to work on our basketball games, work on our skills, wanting to beat the best."

In addition to KD, others who've endorsed Harden's MVP candidacy include their former OKC coach Scott Brooks, Curry, Chris Paul, DeMar DeRozan, and Mike D'Antoni.