James Harden battles with MVP of reigning Drew League champions in Los Angeles
An hour before the main event on Sunday, there's a buzz circulating inside Los Angeles' famous Drew League gym as it quickly fills up to a standing-room-only crowd of 1,100. Everyone, including California congresswoman Maxine Waters, is on hand to watch a battle of two MVPs.
James Harden, the reigning NBA MVP, is making an appearance at the Drew League for his LAUNFD (pronounced "L.A. Unified") team with fellow NBA players PJ Tucker, Montrezl Harrell and Bobby Brown with him.
They are here to take on the best that The Drew League has to offer at the moment -- undefeated Birdie's Revenge and its two-time reigning Drew League MVP Franklin "Frank Nitty" Session along with NBA player Mike James. Adding to the big-game hype was the fact that Birdie's Revenge entered this final regular-season game of the Drew League with a league-record-tying 26-game winning streak dating back to last season.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale
When Harden shows up and is on the floor going through warm-ups, fans everywhere pull out their cell phones to record the NBA's MVP. On the other side of the court, Frank Nitty is hopping with energy as he watches the pro-stacked LAUNFD warm up at one point.
"I love this!" said Session, who dropped 44 points the Sunday before, most at the expense of Chicago Bulls guard Denzel Valentine. Session dropped 40 points the day before that on a team that featured Atlanta Hawks forward Taurean Prince. Session spent last year in the National Basketball League of Canada, earning that league's Newcomer of the Year award.
Once the game starts, it doesn't take very long for the two MVPs to find one another. In fact, Harden and Session end up guarding each other the majority of the game.
Unfortunately, the MVP showdown doesn't come close to matching the hype. Harden scores 26 points and shoots 6-for-13 from the field, while Session goes for 23 points on 6-for-17 shooting, according to the Drew League official box score. However, cheap nfl jerseys china nike it looked and felt like the two missed a lot more than that in what was a sloppy and heavily officiated game.
There were some fireworks on the court, but not nearly the show the crowd had hoped to see. Session drew oohs and ahhs as he got Tucker to slip on one move early in the game. The crowd would later let out a collective gasp after Harden hurt himself by landing on Session's foot following a made 3, leaving Harden on the floor holding his right ankle and writhing in pain. The Rockets star would end up shaking off the injury and staying on the court. Neither Session nor Harden made a field goal inside the arc in the first half.
