With Russell Westbrook and James Harden battling it out for one of the most hotly contested MVP duels in recent years, it will be a shame to see one of these players miss out on the award after both enjoying incredible seasons.

Some are calling for co-MVPs to be named for the first time in league history, but that seems like an unlikely scenario unless the votes between the two All-Stars was tied.

Westbrook and Harden have broken records this year and it's possible that they may never have better individual campaigns for the rest of their careers, so this could be their best shot at hoisting the MVP trophy.

But ultimately, one of them will join an elite list of players to win the accolade and the other will be in danger of being added to the list of best players to never win MVP.

Here are five other great players who never accomplished the feat:

Paul Pierce

'The Truth' will become a Hall of Famer in the coming years when he finally calls time on his illustrious career at the end of this season.

The Boston Celtics legend won an NBA championship with the franchise in 2008 after they acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but unfortunately for him, his prime years saw him playing for some bad Celtics teams which worked against him.

10 All-Star Game appearances, an NBA Finals MVP and five selections to the All-NBA team are among his accomplishments in the game, but he never finished higher than seventh in MVP voting.

Dwyane Wade

Another player who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame when he retires. D.Wade has achieved almost everything during his 14 years in the league, except for the highest individual honour.

Three titles, a Finals MVP, 12 All-Star appearances, multiple All-NBA and All-Defensive honours and an Olympic Gold Medal are on his resume.

The man known as 'Flash' in his prime has had an outstanding career and if it wasn't for his close friend LeBron James, he may have won at least one MVP.

Jason Kidd

The Milwaukee Bucks head coach is regarded as one of the best point guards in the league's history and was renowned for his incredible passing ability.

He was a walking triple-double during his outstanding 19-year career in the NBA. J.Kidd made it to 11 All-Star games with five First Team All-NBA selections, but the MVP award never came his way as a result of tough competition and talent in the league at the time.

The closest he came was in 2002 as the New Jersey Nets made it all the way to the NBA Finals, but he lost in a close vote to Tim Duncan.

Isiah Thomas

Like Kidd, Hall of Famer Thomas is firmly in the conversation when discussing the best point guards in history, he was a magician with the ball in his hands. However, unlike Kidd, Thomas at least had some rings to show for it.

He was a catalyst for the 'Bad Boys' Detroit Pistons teams that won two championships. He was also a 12-time All-Star and was named amongst the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Unfortunately for Isiah, his best years were in the 1980s and early 1990s, a time when Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan had a stranglehold on the MVP award.

Jerry West

This man is literally the face of the NBA with his silhouette serving as the league’s logo. He is considered arguably the best player to never win an MVP award.

West finished second in the MVP voting four different times, losing out to Wilt Chamberlain in 1966, Willis Reed in '70, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in '71 and again in '72. In the '65 ballot, West finished third, behind only Bill Russell and Oscar Robertson. It's certainly no shame losing out to those names.

Among his achievements, 'Mr. Clutch' won a title in '72, made 14 All-Star appearances and is also the only player to have been named the NBA Finals MVP despite playing on the losing team in '69.