Should Nash Have Been the MVP?

bp, if that's really how he voted, then he should be stripped of his ballot. that makes no sense whatsoever.

 

That's why the award shouldn't be based strictly on numbers. Kobe's stats might have been the best (and even that is open to debate) but there's no way he was the only logical choice. Nash and LeBron both make just as much sense.

And why the need to proclaim Kobe more deserving than Nash on the basis of these four playoff games? The award is for the 82 games of the regular season. What happens in the playoffs is a separate deal. That's why they have a Finals MVP. Nothing anyone does in the postseason has anything to do with their case for the regular season MVP. Why is that so hard to accept?

As for the award not being well-defined, I would say its name defines it pretty well. Most VALUABLE Player. Not Most Outstanding, like in the NCAA Tournament. Not Player of the Year. If you can't figure out what valuable means, you shouldn't be voting.

 

Steve Nash made over twice as much money as LeBron did this year. Kobe made three times as much. Seems to me LeBron was a lot more "valuable."




(see what I mean? How the "definition," even of itself, is blurred by sportswriters trying to make a case?)

 

The guy who won (Nash) is the guy who should have won.

Did you see the Suns play without him this year? Ugly.

And guys, it is a regular season award. Phoenix won 54 games. The Lakers won 45.
Neither team makes the playoffs without their guy, which you cannot say about Dallas, Detroit, San Antonio. And those are the only three teams that won more games than the Suns. That to me is enough to vote for Nash.  

 

I wouldn't use salaries as a criterion. Gets too complicated, because then you'd have to go farther. Kobe makes more money than Nash, but does he also generate more profit for the team, for instance? But if someone wants to use money as a factor, so be it. The NBA calls the award Most Valuable Player, then trusts its voters to decide make their own determination of who that is. Seems fine to me.

 

Exactly. So you can't criticize voters for making their own determinations based around the word "valuable." And I'm not saying you did that, as you said in your own post, three different guys worked for you.

Just beware when throwing out the "hey guys, it's called the Most Valuable Player award" point. Things can get MUCH more complicated then just throwing in salaries, revenue, etc. You can't set your own standards for "valuable" and expect everyone else to fall in line. Everyone has their own bias, and will go to great lengths to follow up on that bias. For instance, someone might throw in the fact that Nash is one of 15 in game-tying or winning shots over the last three seasons, with more misses coming from this season than the first two years combined.

 

I'm glad this thread got some discussion started.  When I saw that pic, I knew I had to post it on here.  It's hilarious.

Personally my ballot would look as follows: 1) James, 2) Dirk, 3) Bryant, 4) Wade, 5) Brand.  Nash wouldn't have cracked my top 5--and that isn't factoring in post-season performance.  I'm not even sure Nash is the most valuable guy on his own team.

I think this has been an entertaining sub-plot of the Suns-Lakers series.  Kobe seems miffed that Nash beat him out, and is playing great team basketball to win this series and prove a point.  And yesterday's loss can be pinned on Nash -- he made a couple of silly mistakes in OT, one of which led to the jump ball that sealed the Suns' fate.

 

I don't think you can blame the jump ball on Nash.
He tried to call timeout but didn't get the call.
He got blatanly fouled on the tieup but didn't get the call.

 

Fair enough. The only things I object to are people saying that a playoff performance is proof of who should have won the regular season MVP, and the contention that in a year like this, that there was only one logical choice for the award.

 

Gilbert Arenas is better and more valuable than Billups and Wade

 

To me the vote would come down to Kobe, LeBron and Dirk. I would have picked LeBron over the other two, but that's probably because I just love watching him play.

 

The first time I've seen that picture. That is un-be-lieve-uh-bull! I love it.