The hours we spent debating who was the NBA's 2016-17 MVP felt like something of a waste when the top two finishers, winner Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder and runner-up James Harden of the Houston Rockets, both saw their teams eliminated from the playoffs by the time the conference finals began.
While there's an important role for recognizing regular-season success, as contending teams have placed less value on 82 games than the 16 they need in the playoffs to win a championship, a chasm has grown between the league's most valuable players from October through April and those who have the most impact in April, May and June.
To recognize both regular-season and playoff performance, in 2014 I created the ESPN Insider Golden Basketball award -- our version of FIFA's Ballon d'Or, which is handed out to soccer players based on their efforts over the previous calendar year.