It looks like this year's NBA MVP race has come down to two people -- Stephen Curry and James Harden. But Cleveland Cavalier J.R. Smith thinks there's one important name missing from that short list: his teammate, LeBron James.

As quoted in ESPN, Smith actually makes a pretty good case for LeBron:

I mean, the numbers, what he does for teams. You see one year removed from a team like Miami -- and they probably won't even make the playoffs -- to a team that hasn't made the playoffs since he left and then, all of the sudden, we're a 52-win team. So, I don't think you can do that with anybody else that's in our league right now. Not to knock anything from the other two guys [Stephen Curry and James Harden]. They're having great years, career years for both of them, but if you want to be realistic about it, you could give it to him every time.

Even if you disagree that LeBron should be the MVP, you have to admit, Smith makes some good points.

For more MVP coverage, you can check out our analysis of all the candidates as well as James Harden's counterpoint to this argument (hint: he's not rooting for Steph Curry).

(via ESPN)