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ESPN Staff Writer- ESPN.com NBA analyst since 2010
- ESPN.com Insider researcher in 2009
- Developer of NBA DRAFT Initiative database
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ESPN Staff Writer- Sports reporter, Kansas City Star, 2002-09
- Writer, Baseball, Baseball Prospectus
- Co-author, Pro Basketball Prospectus
- Member, Baseball Writers Association of America
- Member, Professional Basketball Writers Association
Haberstroh: With a little under a month to go, the MVP race is heating up. Anthony Davis is a monster. LeBron James and the Cavs are rolling since he took a two-week sabbatical in Miami. James Harden has the Rockets with the fourth-best record in the NBA. Chris Paul is his normal, elite Chris Paul self.
But the two players who interest me most are Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry. They're so deadly at the point guard position and yet so wildly different in style. Westbrook is a wrecking ball; Curry is a ninja. And their respective teams are in different spots so it's hard to peg their value.
I'm staring at Westbrook's 29.6 PER, which is second-highest in the league and considerably better than Curry's 27.5 figure. Only three other guards have ever put up a PER this high -- Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, both in 2008-09, and some guy named Michael Jordan. Not to put all the eggs in the PER basket, but I'll use it as a launch pad into a larger, juicier debate:
Is Westbrook actually better than Curry?