I really don't see why it should matter that he already has an MVP award. It's supposed to be based on this year. He's had an amazing year. I also don't see the argument some have made about Lebron being too young. He would have been my choice. His stats and impact to the team have been amazing. In such a short time, Cleveland's become an excellent team. Coincidence? Me thinks not. Ilgauskas, Gooden and the like are just not that good. Last year I think Nash got it by default. This year there was a race.
i heard that nash had a good chance to win because of all the 2nd place votes that he was getting. there was a supposedly a big split among the first place votes, with many going to Lebron, Kobe, and some to Nash...but Nash hogged all the 2nd placed votes while those who voted Lebron pushed Kobe down further and those who voted Kobe pushed Lebron down further. i personally would have voted: 1)Lebron 2)Nash 3)Kobe 4)Chauncey 5)Brand Brand would be higher if i believed he was the major reason the Clips are doing so good this year, however, it's kinda obvious that Sam brought quite a lot to the squad.
Did I say Nash was my pick? Besides, my point was that if Jordan didn't deserve it when he did the same thing as Kobe (throw up sickening individual numbers on a near 0.500 team), I don't see why Kobe would. Evan
Cue hundreds of players citing racism for nash winning this year... ...Guess that's God's way of sticking it to us after years of calling it the 51st state.
Even as a Canadian, your opinion doesn't value more Seriously, that's unnecessary worry. Dare to be great. Of course some will hate you if you are great, Canadian or not. Some hate MJ, some hate Malone, well, a lot more hate Malone, so what?
I am glad to see Nash win, but he would have been 3rd in my voting. Kobe 1 Lebron 2 Nash 3 Lebron absolutely did not get jobbed, Kobe right now is the better player. Certainly their cumulative stats are close and both extremely impressive resumes (Kobe ahead in PPG, SPG, 3%, FT%; Lebron ahead in APG, RPG, FG%). But Kobe carried a much inferior supporting cast to the playoffs and was much superior in crunch time. Once the Lakers made the playoffs I thought it was a relatively easy choice for Kobe for the objective observer. Again though, I am not dissappointed at the ego freak isn't getting it.
If you were the GM of a lottery bound team and was told you had to make the playoffs next year or you would be fired and you could pick between Kobe, Lebron, or Nash. Who would you pick? I would pick Nash because the suns were lottery when he got there and Lebron and Kobe were almost lottery bound this year.
Is Lebron's supporting cast really that much better than Kobe's? I'm not saying this as a knock on Kobe....just that so much is made of Kobe's lack of any meaningful help, and I think Lebron's been in a somewhat similar situation.
I think Kobe deserved the award. The key difference with him vs Nash? Kobe plays on both ends of the floor. I've seen Nash play ole defense on guys like Parker and Billups one too many times to be called MVP...he is such a below average defender. I think coaches should vote for the award and not ignorant sportswriters.
Offensive and defensive, are all relative terms, if all your strength >> your weakness, and your net outcome is ++, you prove your value. It's not a vote for most completed player, or the best player individual wise. It's most valuable player to one's team, and that team has to be a very good one to get serious consideration. If that player contributes the most in that team's success, he's the MVP. Nash, Kobe, LeBron, Dirk, and Wade all meet the first criteria, but only Nash and Dirk's teams are very good ones. In the beginning of the season, people wrote the Suns off, and considered Mavs top 5. Based on that, Nash got the nod.
I'd give votes to coaches, one for each team's player captain, and also sportswriters. Split it evenly between the 3. *Maybe* even give the fans the ability to vote, but then weight it so that it's an even 4-way split (fans, coaches, players {via captains}, media). Coaches and player captains can't voe for someone on their own team, natch. Evan
Nash made is team better, but I think the Most Valuable Player was definitely Kobe. He was able to carry his team to the playoffs with almost no help. My second choice would probably be Lebron with nash at a close third. 1-Kobe 2-Lebron 3-Nash 4-Dirk I'm not a big Kobe fan, but unfortunately I think he deserves it. Pugs
It was between Nash and Lebron for me. Nash deserves this IMO. Everyone downplayed this team at the start of the season, they lost JJ and Q, replacing them w/ Bell and Diaw? And then they lost Amare for the season? I honestly thought this team was headed for the lottery. They ended up being one of the best teams in the league, and let's face it, it was all because of Nash.
This Kobe should be MVP campaign is sickening already. His team is a 7th seed in a Western Conference that is at its weakest in a decade or so. Kobe has had a great season (unbelievable individual offensive performance over the course of a season) but he has not made those around him play at another level. Nash makes those around him do that. The Suns lost Q. Rich, J. Johnson, Amare, and have not missed a beat. With the exception of Marion, the role players on the Suns are NBA journeymen who are having GREAT individual seasons because of Nash's vision, leadership and style. For fun, I compared Kobe's season with T-Mac's 02-03 season. They have similar numbers and T-mac finished 4th in the MVP race but was not seriously talked about the way Kobe is now. I know the NBA needs to hype itself and wants to annoint the next MJ#23, but the Kobe lovefest is getting ridiculous. T-Mac's 02-03 season and Kobe's current season are comparable but T-Mac did not receive the type hype that Kobe is now. Both had mediocre talent, played in a weaker conference than usual, finished at the bottom of the playoff seeding (Magic-8th, Lakers-7th). Here are their numbers: T-Mac (02-03): 75 GP, 32.1 PPG, 39.4 MPG, .457 FG%, .386 3P%, .793 FT%, 6.5 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.60 TO, 1.65 SPG, 24 Shot attemps per game, team record 42-40 (he missed 7 games) Kobe (05-06): 80 GP, 35.4 PPG, 41 MPG, .450 FG%, .347 3P%, 5.3 RBG, 4.5 APG, 3.13 TO, 1.84 SPG, 27 shot attemps per game, team record 45-37 (he missed 2 games) In 2002-2003, T-Mac finished behind Duncan and Garnett (not sure who was 3rd) but was not hyped up and discussed as a serious winner (he actually got tagged with the "ball-hog" label). My question then is why is Kobe getting so much talk? His team is not a threat to go anywhere. Again, he has a great season INDIVIDUALLY but he does not make his teammates better. Yeah the Lakers would not make the playoffs without him but neither would the Suns without Nash nor the Cavs without Lebron. So the award should go to the one who makes his teammates better and elevates them to another level and Nash does exactly that. Lebron does that too but his team is not a threat to go deep, and has a lesser record in a soft eastern conference. Both conferences are not as good as previous years. My point is that this hyping of Kobe for MVP is just that hype, and that Nash or Lebron should be the top two choices for MVP. Billups and Nowitzki have far too much talent around them to be named MVP.
Kobe as the MVP is not just hype. I don't like him one bit, but I think he has the best case. Tmac may have had a similar statistical year, but the East sucked then, and more importantly KG and TD had monster years on elite teams. Had KG or TD or Shaq had monster years on elite teams this year, they would have been the MVP this year as well. If you weight best player on an elite, you end up with Wade, Dirk or Billips as MVP. Nash on was a team a notch below, and you could argue Marion--who lead them in PPG, RPG, SPG and BPG (often by a wide margin)-- was co-MVP with Nash on his own team. Lebron has a case too, I just think Kobe's is better. Z, Hughes, Marshall, Gooden, Jones, Murrey and Snow are actually NBA quality players, Kobe and Odom are about the only Lakers who would play for any other NBA team. Kobe (7th in West) and Lebron's (4th in East) team accomplishments are negligibly different when you weight compeition and the records both teams had last year. In the end I have to nod to Kobe because he was the better last 2 minute player this year. I am not upset at all Nash got it (don't like Kobe), but yeah I think overall Kobe had the best case of the prospects. There simply wasn't a clear case for a supremely dominant player on a 60+ win team this year, the more typical and stronger MVP winner.
I would have given Kobe a slight edge over LeBron with Nash 3rd. Nash's performance slipped late in the year and I'm surprised he won. LeBron's performance down the stretch was amazing. But Kobe, with his truly pathetic supporting cast, still lead his team into the playoffs at 45-37. You can make a good case for Nash. Nobody in the NBA affect his teammates in a more positive way than he does. They KNOW if they hustle and get open Nash will get them the ball. LeBron is downright scary. This guy will definitely surpass Kobe, Wade and Tracy. It's hard to believe he's only 21 and in his 3rd NBA season, straight out of high school.
Are you sure about Heat being elite? 2-14 against top teams, 19-21 against 500 or better teams? How's the Suns a notch below?
