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The list of NBA players to log four straight top-three Most Valuable Player finishes is a who's who of all-time greats ... and James Harden, whose career has taken an odd turn since his third-place MVP finish in 2020:
• Bill Russell (1958-65)
• Oscar Robertson (1962-66)
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970-74)
• Larry Bird (1981-88)
• Magic Johnson (1983-91)
• Michael Jordan (1987-93)
• Tim Duncan (2001-04)
• Kobe Bryant (2007-10)
• LeBron James (2009-16)
• James Harden (2017-20)
The list of players to record six top-five MVP finishes in a seven-year span or eight straight top-10 finishes, which Harden did for the Houston Rockets, is not all that different.