Early MVP chatter does not include Rajon Rondo

Obviously I'm biased, but I think Rajon Rond should at least get some complimentary acknowledgement in the discussion about MVP. Apparently not for The Point Forward's Ben Golliver. Here's how he breaks down the race for the MVP at the quarter mark.

NBA quarter-mark awards: Kevin Durant for MVP; Damian Lillard for Rookie of the Year | The Point Forward - SI.com

1. Kevin Durant, Thunder 2. LeBron James, Heat 3. Carmelo Anthony, Knicks 4. Chris Paul, Clippers 5. Tim Duncan, Spurs

The MVP award always boils down to wins, stories and stats. Durant has edged past James in the first two categories and, perhaps most impressively, he has fought the reigning MVP to a draw in numbers.

Anthony, Paul and Duncan have all been typically excellent on very successful teams. The steep drop-off from the NBA's top two to everyone else in terms of overall ability and impact just renders further discussion unnecessary.

I'm not going to quibble with the Durant/James stuff. They are the best in the game right now and deserve the praise that they get. I also get the fact that only winners need apply to the MVP race (current scoring leader Kobe Bryant is also noticeably absent on this list) and the Celtics have struggled out of the gate.

With that said, there's a case to be made that Duncan isn't even the most valuable player on his own team anymore and I think Rondo's early season stats match up very favorably to Chris Paul's.

Yeah, I'm a homer and I admit I don't follow those other guys as closely as others might. But hopefully once the Celtics start winning more, Rajon Rondo will get more well deserved recognition. (and if we don't start winning more, I won't much care who gets recognized)

So what do you think? Does Rondo deserve to be in the MVP discussion? How would you rank the contestants?