JAG’s Sports Blog

Every sport seems to have this debate about who deserves the league MVP (Most Valuable player) and how it’s voted on. Steve Nash has won it two years running and it’s been pretty hard to try and make a case for him not to win it. The further the playoffs go though, the more we see other players and what they do for their teams. How was Steve Nash chosen this year and how will the winner be determined next?

In baseball, statistics usually tell the story no questions asked on who will win the MVP. The only discussion is whether or not a player that only performs every 5 days (pitcher) can win and that includes the best of the best relievers, who only get in if their team has a lead. In football, we all know an MVP when we see him and that usually is the player that statistically stood out from everyone else and led their team to a playoff spot. Basketball is such the exception that no two people ever seem to agree on who the MVP is for that season. The truth be told, I think the people with votes actually agree on who should win the MVP, but simply want to vote for or against a certain player.

The year’s that Charles Barkley (1993-94) and Karl Malone (1996-97 and 98-99) won their MVP’s, most people would tell you that Michael Jordan really won it. If you think about it, Jordan could have and maybe should have won the MVP about 10 years in a row. Mentally though, no one with a vote wants to vote for the same person every year. You get to a point where you look for a reason to vote for someone else even though it’s obvious that the Chicago Bulls wouldn’t have won any NBA titles without Michael Jordan. Jordan was one of the few players to lead the league in scoring while leading his team to the title. So how do you judge a player to be the most valuable in the league?

Steve Nash has won it the last two years and this year’s award is as much about Amare Stoudemire not playing but a few games this year as much as him raising his game. Most people looked at the Suns and wondered how he could take a bunch of guys like Boris Diaw, Raja Bell, Shawn Marion and underachieving forward Tim Thomas and nearly make it to the NBA Finals. It’s pretty much viewed as Nash’s leadership in making this band of good, but not great players into a greyhound group of players that would run you into the ground and believe they could win a title. Sometimes MVP’s are won on leadership as opposed to statistics. Kirk Gibson winning the MVP in baseball in 1988 is a perfect example. Gibson had a .290 batting average, 25 home runs and 76 rbi’s. That’s almost comical in today’s game, but it was his leadership that won that award over Daryl Strawberry, who was statistically better.

Steve Nash clearly lifted his averages this season from his career average of 13.5 points, even though his last 5 years are closer to 17 points a game, 7.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. This season Nash recorded 18.8 points, 10.5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. The key was him raising his personal statistics and also helping almost every player on his team raising their personal statistics after losing 3 key starters from the previous year. Boris Diaw, a timid, career 4.8 point per game scorer in Atlanta, suddenly gained confidence in the Nash led NASCAR style offense. Diaw raised his average to 13.3 points for the season and became the go to guy during the playoffs as he finished with a playoff average of 18.7 points per game and scored 24.2 a game against Dallas as no one had an answer for defending him.

Nash is viewed as the player that starts this engine and why all of th Suns players increased their statistics. The question has to be asked if another great point guard could have done the same. Nash is one of the few west coast players to get this kind of constant publicity outside of Kobe Bryant, who we’ll get to later.

After watching Cleveland in the playoffs, most people were discussing if the vote were taken again, LeBron James probably would have won the award. LeBron lifted his individual averages significantly during the playoffs and got rid of the label that he couldn’t deliver late in games. It became as clear as the nose (quite huge) on the late W.C. Field’s face that Cleveland is a far inferior and not a playoff team without LeBron. As hard as he tries to involve his teammates in the action, they will disappear especially when playing on the road. LeBron averaged 31.4 points per game during the regular and managed to jack that up to an incredible 35.7 against Washington in the first round. He went down to 26.6 against Detroit, but it seemed like every point came with 3 guys guarding him every time he touched the ball. It’s up to his teammates to score when they get the ball. Is it the player or the system when you look at Cleveland and Phoenix?

Chauncey Billups was the early season favorite to win the award, but his likelihood of winning was very low when you play with a perceived great team in Detroit. Billups is the Mr. Clutch of the team because everyone watches him and expects to see him hit a big shot whenever Detroit needs a basket. He raised his points per game up to 18.5 and assists to 8.6, which isn’t considered great, but certainly impressive on a team where everyone contributes significantly. Billups case for the award would play on being the clutch guy on the best team in the regular season since that is when the vote is taken. The playoffs don’t count in the voting for the award.

Kobe Bryant is such a divisive personality in the league that 22 voters left him off of their top 5 ballots. This is the player that makes people wonder how the balloting is done. No one is saying he should have won the award, but how could anyone leave him off of their ballot completely. There is no conceivable way the Lakers made the playoffs without Kobe Bryant playing for them. This Lakers team is young and weak with no real strong leadership outside of maybe Lamar Odom. Kobe certainly shouldn’t be voted the MVP solely for his 81 point game, but there were many games if he didn’t score 40+, they would have lost. The more Kobe tries to involve his teammates next season, the stronger his case will be to win the award. The series against Phoenix proved that they still have a long way to go to become a strong playoff tough team. The regular season is so much different than the playoffs.

Dirk Nowitzki finally made his presence known to a national audience as the leader of the Dallas Mavs. Dirk is the type of player that will deliver 25 points a night and get rebounds for his team. What people have noticed most though is his willingness now to try to play defense and actually drive to the basket rather than just pulling up for the 20 foot jump shot every play. Avery Johnson gets the credit for this. Once Johnson took over as coach, the team dedicated themselves to being tougher and no one player gets a pass in this attitude. I almost guarantee that Nowitzki has gained MVP votes for next just because of his play in the playofs this season.

Honorable mention goes to Shaq and Dwyane Wade because they are thought of as the new Batman and Robin and you can choose who is who. Shaq opens up the game for Wade because if Wade drives and you help, someone else like Shaq is open and if you double Shaq, Wade has the whole court to break down the defense and score. Wade could be the MVP someday if Shaq isn’t there and he dominates or his statistics simply blow up to the point that no one can overlook him Neither Shaq nor Wade will ever produce eye-popping statistics while together, but they are clearly viewed as two of the best at their positions and give their team the best chance to win a title.

A case could have been made for at least 4 guys for sure, but it all comes down to what you want in your MVP (Most Valuable Player). How do you measure and judge who is most valuable to their team and what makes them that? I really don’t think there will ever be an answer to that question. Is it the best player statistically or is it the guy that gives his team the best chance to make the playoffs and win the title? For my 2 cents, I have no problem with Steve Nash winning it gain because no one would have guessed Phoenix could be that good without Amare Stoudemire and all of those players stepping up their game at one time. Is it the system in Phoenix or does Steve Nash make the system go?

Throw out an opinion yourself on what makes for a MVP in basketball or any other sport. If Kirk Gibson can win the award in baseball without the normal mammoth statistics, why shouldn’t Steve Nash win it without personally having all the best statistics. He was the leader and gave his teammates the chance to increase their numbers and still increased his own to make it easy for the team to be so good.

[tags]NBA, Finals, MVP, Dwaye Wayde, Nash[/tags]

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