Steve Nash Wins MVP

[MikeJordan23 0]

Sources: Nash beats out Shaq as league MVP

Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash will be awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Player on Sunday, ESPN.com's Marc Stein has learned.

Marc Stein

ESPN.com

 

- Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash will be awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Player on Sunday, ESPN.com's Marc Stein has learned.

 

The official announcement will come Sunday at halftime of ABC's 3 p.m. ET playoff game.

 

O'Neal, three times an NBA Finals MVP, has won the regular-season MVP trophy just once in his 13 seasons. Apparently tipping this vote in Nash's favor was the Suns' 33-game improvement -- from 29 wins to a league-leading 62 wins -- after signing Nash away from the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason.

 

Nash's previous best MVP showing was 14th place in 2002.

 

With Nash flanked by the athletic finishing of fellow All-Stars Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, Phoenix became just the second team in NBA annals to win at least 60 games after a 50-loss season. The first? The Boston Celtics in Larry Bird's rookie season of 1979-80.

 

But Nash is defying history to beat out O'Neal, and not simply because he had only one scholarship offer from a Division I university -- Santa Clara -- as a slight Canadian teen-ager in British Columbia.

 

Allen Iverson, the NBA's 2001 MVP as a shooting guard, is the only player shorter than 6-foot-6 in the past four decades to win the award. Nash also becomes the first MVP since Portland's Bill Walton in 1978 to average less than 20 points per game. His 15.5-point scoring average for the Suns is the third-lowest all-time for an MVP, ahead of only Washington's Wes Unseld (13.8 ppg in 1969) and Boston's Bill Russell (14.1 ppg in 1965).

 

Nash, though, did lead the league in assists (11.5 apg) by a wide margin for a runaway Suns team that averaged a league-leading 110 points per game.

 

Phoenix swept Memphis 4-0 in a first-round series and awaits the Dallas-Houston winner in the second round, raising the possibility of an emotional series against the team he left last summer.

[razazteca 0]

Anybody know what is the breakdown of MVP winners by position? I'm guessing that either Centers or Forwards won the award the most.

 

PHX vs Dallas and Detroit vs Indy = ratings

[MrRant 0]

Well at least he's white.

[Vern Gagne 0]

He's Canadian though.

[Precious Roy 0]

If you count Duncan, centers have won it 27 times. Forwards 12, and guards 10 counting Nash.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Anybody know what is the breakdown of MVP winners by position? I'm guessing that either Centers or Forwards won the award the most.

 

PHX vs Dallas and Detroit vs Indy = ratings

I went ahead and did the compilations. I have 27 for centers, 12 for forwards, and twelve for guards. Some of that might be slightly inaccurate, as I counted all of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson's MVPs for guards, since I do not have position by year available.

 

Besides MJ and Magic, the only guards to win an MVP are Oscar Robertson, Bob Cousy, Allen Iverson, and now Steve Nash.

[Guest Redhawk]

That was crap that Nash won. His old team won MORE games without him this year, while Shaq's old team missed the playoffs.

[Carnival 0]

Who was the last white boy to win it? If jason kidd won it he doesn't count.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Who was the last white boy to win it? If jason kidd won it he doesn't count.

Larry Bird I believe.

[razazteca 0]

Larry Bird or Kevin McHale?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

For real fun, the last white MVP award winner behind Nash and Bird was....

 

Bill Walton.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Woohoo! Kid Canada wins!

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

That was crap that Nash won. His old team won MORE games without him this year, while Shaq's old team missed the playoffs.

Why would you pick this season's MVP based on what the team he's no longer on did? Nash running Phoenix's offense and swinging them to the best record in the league is a lot more significant than the fact that his old team continued to be good.

 

Also, even if you want to go by that method, you certainly can't discount the fact that the Lakers also lost Karl Malone...and Gary Payton. And Phil Jackson. And one of their best bench players.

[Guest Redhawk]

Because if he was so valuable, why did his absence not affect Dallas at all? You could replace Nash with a number of PGs and the Suns would be just as good. But replace Shaq with anyone other than maybe Duncan or KG and the Heat aren't as good.

[MikeJordan23 0]

Because if he was so valuable, why did his absence not affect Dallas at all? You could replace Nash with a number of PGs and the Suns would be just as good. But replace Shaq with anyone other than maybe Duncan or KG and the Heat aren't as good.

Agreed.

 

Shaq got hosed, he got hosed.

 

For the record, seriously, I have no problem with Nash winning. I, personally, would've voted for Shaq.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

No touches for Nash in Dallas = more for Nowitzki, whose breakout season did a lot for them. They also brought in Dampier who, while not great, helped make the offense shift to a focus on the big men. And of course there's Jerry Stackhouse, who, while no longer putting up 29 a game, was a huge contribution off the bench. They didn't just not replace Nash, after all.

[Precious Roy 0]

That was crap that Nash won. His old team won MORE games without him this year, while Shaq's old team missed the playoffs.

Why would you pick this season's MVP based on what the team he's no longer on did? Nash running Phoenix's offense and swinging them to the best record in the league is a lot more significant than the fact that his old team continued to be good.

Dallas also underwent a complete roster overhaul, moving Jamison and Walker who got heavy minutes but never fit in there, bringing in a real center in Dampier and giving themselves the flexibility to have a rotation of veterans and kids. It's a smarter put together team this year. Last year's Dallas team just had too many guys who played the same spots on the roster, and was weak as hell inside, all of Nash's PG skills couldn't change that.

 

Next white MVP: Joel Pryzbilla

 

[Carnival 0]

they reserve the Finals-MVP for Shaq, cuz they know he should win the season MVP damn near every year.

[Styles 0]

Deserving, but Shaq should have taken it. Without Nash, the Suns might not be a playoff team but they'd still win. Without Shaq the Heat probably aren't even a winning team.

 

Anyway, why doesn't the NBA do like baseball and give awards for both leagues? That would solve so many controversies. Shaq would be the East MVP, Nash the West MVP.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

I don't see that connection. The Heat did make the playoffs last year, right? And the only major people they lost were in the trade for Shaq, right?

 

I'm asking, because, I don't follow basketball as intently as others, so I don't want to make some claims that turn out to be wrong and I look like an even bigger jackass.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Deserving, but Shaq should have taken it. Without Nash, the Suns might not be a playoff team but they'd still win. Without Shaq the Heat probably aren't even a winning team.

 

Anyway, why doesn't the NBA do like baseball and give awards for both leagues? That would solve so many controversies. Shaq would be the East MVP, Nash the West MVP.

For reals... Miami was in the playoffs last year, how do you figure they don't make the play-offs this year with the same team?

[Styles 0]

Deserving, but Shaq should have taken it. Without Nash, the Suns might not be a playoff team but they'd still win. Without Shaq the Heat probably aren't even a winning team.

 

Anyway, why doesn't the NBA do like baseball and give awards for both leagues? That would solve so many controversies. Shaq would be the East MVP, Nash the West MVP.

For reals... Miami was in the playoffs last year, how do you figure they don't make the play-offs this year with the same team?

Maybe I was overstating it. It's just with Shaq they are the most dominant team in the East and are on the fast track to the finals. Without Shaq they're a marginal playoff team (they were only 2 games over .500 last year and were 4th seed, this year with the emergence of the Wizards and Bulls, the East is more competitive and they would be tied for the 8th seed). I realise the amazing turnaround the Suns had from last year but think this year with the all star play of Amare and Marion they'd still be ok. Anyway, like I said Nash is deserving but I think Shaq means more to his team. They should have seperate league awards like baseball...

[Vern Gagne 0]

No one knows how Miami would of progessed has a team if had essentially the same team, plus a couple of new players. Not has good as with Shaq, but they could of easily of competed for the Southeastern Division title.

[alfdogg 0]

Well, if Dallas wins tomorrow, then we'll be able to find out how much Dallas "improved" without Nash.

 

And I'd like to know, aside form perhaps Jason Kidd, just who these "number of PG's" are that would have made the impact that Nash did in Phoenix.

[Guest LooneyTune]

Nash busts his ass every night, and Shaq just stands around, knocks people over while scoring shots 2 feet away, and misses at least 45% of his FT's. Sorry, but Nash deserves it over Shaq's lazy ass when thinking it over like that.

[alfdogg 0]

That's blasphemy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shaq actually misses 54% of his free throws.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Anyway, why doesn't the NBA do like baseball and give awards for both leagues? That would solve so many controversies. Shaq would be the East MVP, Nash the West MVP.

Baseball and the NBA aren't structured the same way.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

How does the NFL do it?...

[Lightning Flik 0]

NFL & MLB - Awards both sides (AFC/NFC, AL/NL).

 

NBA & NHL - Awards just league

[Guest Vitamin X]

NFL doesn't award both conferences. There's only one MVP, unless there's a tie like 2003 (Manning and McNair) or like in `97 (Favre and Sanders), then there's co-MVPs. Interestingly enough, the co-MVPs have usually come from the same conference as well.

 

After MVP, there's also an Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, as well as Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, and a Comeback Player of the Year. And the Walter Payton trophy (Man of the Year) which goes for which player showed the most valuable contributions on and off the field.