ASU Basketball: Is James Harden the greatest Sun Devil of all-time?

After winning the first NBA MVP of his career, is Rockets guard James Harden the best ASU basketball player in program history?

The Beard received the greatest individual honor one can receive after winning his first NBA MVP trophy of his career Monday night.

The Rockets guard was a slam dunk pick to win the award averaging a career-high 30.4 points per game with 8.8 assists per game as Houston finished with the best record in the Western Conference.

Harden received 86 of the 101 first-place votes and finished 227 points ahead of LeBron James, who finished in second place. Pelicans forward Anthony Davis placed third.

By winning MVP, is Harden the greatest Sun Devil of all-time?

He’s the second-highest picked Arizona State player ever in the NBA Draft going third overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009. Joe Caldwell was the highest-drafted Sun Devil going second overall in the 1964 Draft.

During Harden’s record-setting season, he surpassed Byron Scott as ASU’s leader in NBA career points. Harden ranks second among ASU alum in assists per game (6.1) with Fat Lever atop the leaderboard (6.2).

Harden is fourth in total rebounds with with Alton Lister, Lever and Caldwell ahead of The Beard in career rebounds. He’s put up these numbers in just 687 career games, which is seventh-most NBA games played among those from Arizona State.

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In the conversation for the greatest Sun Devil of all-time is Harden, Caldwell, Lever are jockeying for position in the top-three.

Caldwell’s career spanned from 1964-75 and was a four-time All-Star in the NBA and ABA, a first-team All-Rookie, a first-team All-ABA and a two-time All-Defensive player.

According to Basketball Reference, Caldwell earned a player efficiency rating of 14.7 and a 37.8 wins share (an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player).

Next up is Lever, who averaged 13.9 points per game and six rebounds per game, earning a 17.8 PER and a 61.2 wins share.

The 11-year NBA veteran’s career spanned three teams playing with Portland, Denver and Dallas and was a two-time All-Star with the Nuggets earning second team All-NBA in 1986-87 and second team All-Defensive in 1987-88.

In comparison, Harden is averaging 23.0 points per game, which is seven points more per game than Caldwell, and is a six-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA, All-Rookie and Sixth Man of the Year.

Harden also finished the 2016-17 season as the league’s assists champion and finished this season as the NBA’s scoring champion.

The Beard’s PER is at 23.7 and sports a staggering wins share of 106.7 and next year will be only his 10th NBA season at the age of 29.

Harden’s wins share per 48 minutes ranks ninth all-time with these players ahead of him: Chris Paul, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Wilt Chamberlain, Neil Johnston, LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

Excluding Paul and James who are active players, the others on that list are in the Hall of Fame. According to Basketball Reference, Harden’s Hall of Fame probability is at 97.8 percent.

Yes, I just threw a bunch of numbers at you but with this MVP trophy and his career trajectory, Harden is the greatest Sun Devil of all-time in the midst of his prime.

Next: ASU Basketball: Who will be the next Sun Devil drafted?

Arizona State retired his number in 2015 and it likely won’t be the last time his number will be retired and barring any injuries, he should be an automatic inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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