After sweeping the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks in four games in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder can only sit and await the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets.

In the meantime, one of the team’s best players has been given the recognition he deserves for another successful season in Oklahoma City. With a league-leading 16.8 points per game off the bench, James Harden has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.

Recently, Harden made headlines for getting smacked in the side of the head by the elbow of Lakers’ forward Metta World Peace. The supposedly unintentional elbow resulted in a seven-game suspension for World Peace and Harden sitting out a few games with concussion symptoms.

Despite missing a few games after getting his bell rung by World Peace, Harden has been better than ever for the Thunder as the team’s sparkplug off the bench. There’s no question that Harden could start for any team in the NBA with the kind of talent he has scoring the basketball on a nightly basis, but head coach Scott Brooks made the decision to have the former Arizona State star come off the bench.

As a result, the Thunder have turned into one of the best all-around teams in the NBA with three legitimate superstars in three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant, up-and-coming point guard Russell Westbrook and the best sixth man in the league.

With the ability to light up the scoreboard with the same efficiency as his two All-Star teammates, Harden has become invaluable to the Thunder and will almost certainly be a huge factor in the outcome of the second-round series against the Lakers or the Denver Nuggets.

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