The Matchup: This Maroon Madness Sweet 16 matchup features two athletes who completely dominated the first round voting. James Harden won by landslide after gathering 93 percent of the vote over Jim Jeffcoat. Harden’s new opponent, Andre Ethier, took his first-round victory with 59 percent of the vote over Lionel Hollins.
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No. 1 James Harden
Career-defining moment: This one’s easy. After leading the Houston Rockets to the best regular season record in the NBA and going out tough in the Western Conference Finals, Harden took home the NBA’s Most Valuable Player trophy this year.