Not only was Noah 4th in voting, but a guy like Harden who plays strictly no D is especially the kind of guy I don't want to see on a MVP ballot. He's a one-trick pony that got badly exposed in round 1.
This being said my point was only that the Spurs beat writers could at least think about throwing a vote to one of our guys. After all they wouldn't even have a job if the Spurs franchise wasn't so successful in the first place.
I also checked how "low" the top player on the 1st seed overall could drop in the MVP voting.
In the 15 seasons since 2000, the MVP was on the team getting the 1st seed overall 8 times (!). In 5 of the remaining seasons the best player on the 1st seed was ranked 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th and 7th (Webber on the Kings in 2002).
Only twice was there no player from the 1st seed in the top 10:
- in 2012 (shortened season), Chicago was the 1st seed and Derrick Rose was 11th in MVP voting. However the Spurs had the same record and Parker was 5th.
- in 2014, again no players from top seed in top 10: Duncan and Parker tied at 12th.