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Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Walker Barely Keeping Pace in NBA MVP Race

By Jerry Stephens

Nov 18, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) reacts to a basket in the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center. The Hornets defeated the Hawks 100-96. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 18, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker (15) reacts to a basket in the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at Spectrum Center. The Hornets defeated the Hawks 100-96. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kemba Walker‘s MVP stock continues to fall as the Charlotte Hornets’ continue to struggle but he is still in the conversation for the award.

While James Harden and Russell Westbrook continue to lead the NBA’s MVP ladder but the Charlotte Hornets‘ have a dog in the fight as well. Even though Kemba Walker is still among the top players for the award, he is starting to lose ground. His play has been great individually but the team has been struggling to find wins as of late.

NBA.com’s Sekou Smith released his weekly NBA MVP ladder and Kemba barely made the cut outside the top-10. Walker remained outside of the top-10 where he has been for the past few weeks. Since being ranked at #8 last month, the Hornets’ guard has fallen every week since.

Now that we are in Week 10 of the MVP ladder, Kemba is on the outside looking in and probably the farthest from the top than he has ever been in any week this season. After having a breakout start to the year, Walker’s play has slowly started to decline even though he is still performing at an all-star level.

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In only two games this past week, Walker averaged 21.5 points per game, 6.5 assists per game, and 4.0 rebounds per game. Charlotte’s point guard shot (15-33) 45.4% from the field and (7-15) 46.6% from the three-point line. He did put up good numbers but the Hornets went 0-2 and they have lost five of their last six in total.

James Harden held the top spot in the rankings followed by Russell Westbrook as the two have swapped between #1 and #2 many times this season. They were followed by #3 Kevin Durant, #4 LeBron James, #5 Giannis Antetokounmpo, #6 Isaiah Thomas, #7 Stephen Curry, #8 Kawhi Leonard, #9 DeMar DeRozan, and #10 Paul George.

Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, and Marc Gasol each joined Kemba as the “Next Five” just outside of the top-10. No matter how well Walker plays, if his team does not win games, he will not move up the rankings. Both the team and the individual will need to step their play up if Kemba wants to move up the ladder and also make his first All-Star team this season.

Next: Hornets' Defense Slowly Declining Each Season

Despite the poor record that the Charlotte Hornets have of late, Kemba continues to be their best player every night. As long as they are in contention for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference and Walker’s stats stay around the same, he will be among the best and mentioned as an MVP candidate. Even though he will not catch Westbrook or Harden, moving back into the top-10 would be a good step forward.

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