James Harden's NBA MVP opportunity is standing in front of him.It just happens to be taking the form of a 6'8", 250-pound freight train known as LeBron James.Both players have entrenched themselves in a four-man race that's six weeks away from crowning a victor and already seemingly destined to end in a photo finish. With James' Cleveland Cavaliers set to pay Harden's Houston Rockets a visit on Sunday, the latter has the chance to improve his odds of winning this thing by a hairor, in Harden's case, by a beard.While the final order of the MVP ballot is still to be determined, the four names who will appear at the top have likely already been decided: Harden, James, Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook. As one Eastern Conference executive toldNBA.com'sSekou Smith, all four can appear like the favorite depending on when you look:One night I think it's easy to say Steph has been the MVP all season and his body of work needs to be rewarded. Then I'll flip over and see James go off and think, how can you not go with a man doing all of the things he's doing under those circumstances' I think we all take LeBron for granted. ... And Russ, well, he's basically doing the same thing this season with KD in and out of the lineup with injury that KD did last season with Russ on the other side of that equation.Harden can only concern himself with the things he can control. And come Sunday, a head-to-head duel with the four-time MVP will give the league's leading scorer a platform to execute his plan for basketball domination."I see an opportunity to become one of the best players in the world," Harden toldSports Illustrated'sLee Jenkins. "I could be the best player in the world."Judging by certain measures, Harden has already put that plan into practice.No player has averaged more points (27.0) or produced more win shares (12.0) than Harden this season. The sixth-year scoring guard also sits atop ESPN.com's leaderboard with 13.24 wins above a replacement player.But the stat sheet alone won't decide this race. Not when all four players have elite-level numbers next to their names.Adding team success to the discussion doesn't thin the field, either.Harden, James and Curry suit up for three of the league's nine teams that have a winning percentage above .620. Westbrook's Oklahoma City Thunder bring up the rear at .542, but that number jumps to .667 in games that both he and reigning MVP Kevin Durant have played.The impact this quartet has had on their respective clubs can be labeled simply as astronomical. The Rockets are 9.4 points per 100 possessions better with Harden on the floor, and that's the smallest on-off split of the group: The Thunder are plus-10.0 with Westbrook, theWarriors are plus-16.6 with Curry and the Cavs are plus-17.9 with James.Because the macro layers of this discussion keep the four in such close quarters with one another, micro moments become magnified in the minds of the voters.That's what makes Sunday's showdown such a pivotal piece of Harden's candidacy. He knows who he's rubbing elbows with at the moment, and the entire hoops world understands the type of threat a motivated James poses.The King claims that individual accolades are the furthest thing from his mind. His main focus is being "the MVP for these guys, 14 guys in this locker room," per Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group.There's certainly truth in that statement, but an NBA aficionado like James also understands the meaning of adding a fifth Maurice Podoloff Trophy to his collection. Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only five-time winners of the award, and the latter is the only player to have won a sixth."James does care about team success first, but he also cares deeply about individual awards," wrote ESPN.com'sBrian Windhorst. "That includes right now and the developing MVP race. He has been privately wondering why he's not more involved in the national conversation on the matter, considering his play in the past quarter of the season."James is coming for the hardware. Even if he won't admit it, his play speaks louder than his words.On Thursday, he ripped Curry and the Warriors for a season-high 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting to go along with 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block."He's probably the best player in the world, so once he gets going, it's hard to stop him," said Warriors forward Draymond Green, one of the season's top Defensive Player of the Year candidates, perBleacher Report'sEthan Skolnick.Harden, of course, can be just as potent. He has more 40-point explosions (six) and 30-point outings (25) than any player in the league.He'll need another incendiary effort Sunday to help hold off the hard-charging James. Harden didn't help himself in the Rockets' four meetings with Curry's Warriors (Houston lost all four games by double-digits), but the bearded baller's biggest MVP competition may no longer reside in the Western Conference.If the vote comes down to James or Harden, this seemingly forgettable regular-season tilt could have far-reaching implications. James missed the teams' first meeting, and if they lock horns again this year it won't be until the NBA Finals.This is a chance for both players to push themselves ahead of the other in the eyes of the voting populace. And it's an opportunity for Harden to prove himself worthy of being recognized as NBA royalty.If being the best truly requires beating the best, that invitation is officially coming Harden's way. How he handles it could decide whether he's accepting the MVP at season's endor watching the award presentation from afar.Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.Follow @ZachBuckleyNBA
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