With all due respect to Stephen Curry, LeBron James and James Harden, Anthony Davis has been the best player in the National Basketball Association this season.

Davis has been extremely impressive for the New Orleans Pelicans in his third season of NBA play. Despite being just 21 years old, Davis ranks among the league's best in multiple offensive and defensive categories. What makes Davis so great is that he lacks a weakness, except, of course, three-point shooting. Davis has just one three-point shot made this season, and that was the unbelievable game-winning shot against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This season Davis is (once again) leading the NBA in blocks, averaging 2.74 per game. Davis also ranks fourth in the NBA in scoring. What makes Davis the best MVP candidate this year is his value to the team and the competition he faces.

Harden is having another great season, but he has a great supporting cast. Jason Terry, Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley all have at least 80 three-point shots for the Rockets this season. Only one player has more than 60 three-pointers on the Pelicans this year, Ryan Anderson. That's not even including Dwight Howard, who is widely considered the best center in the NBA today. Harden and the Rockets have 36 victories, nine more than the Pelicans, but the reality is Harden has a far better supporting cast than Davis does.

One of the best players this season has been Stephen Curry. The Golden State Warriors guard has been the frontrunner for MVP for the majority of the season. Curry is definitely deserving as he ranks second in three-point shots made and he is making nearly 90 percent of his free throws. But, Curry can be inconsistent defensively and he does benefit greatly from having Klay Thompson by his side at all times. Andrew Bogut has also been playing very well this season when on the floor.

And then, of course, we have LeBron James. "The King" has the Cleveland Cavaliers streaking, having won nine of their last 10 games. The best case you can make for James is the fact the Cavaliers played awful without James this year. The Cavaliers are 1-7 without James this season, but are 31-14 with him. Now that is true value. But even James can't overtake Davis' greatness this season. James played subpar defense early in the season, and similar to Harden and Curry, he does benefit from playing with good players. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love aren't Hall of Famers, but they are All-Stars, and they are better than anybody else on the Pelicans.

Outside of playing with a below average supporting cast, Davis also plays in the toughest division in the NBA. The Southwest Division features elite opponents such as the Memphis Grizzlies, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. Davis is facing top tier competition on a consistent basis.

It will be tough for Davis to get enough votes, however. The Pelicans 27-25 record currently has them as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference behind the Phoenix Suns. We've seen players miss the playoffs before and get the MVP Award, most notably Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1975-76 season. If the Pelicans do make the postseason, Davis should automatically be the MVP of this regular season.

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