NBA MVP
 

It is pretty much Steve Nash or Shaquile O'Neal.

Personally, I think I might have to go with Nash. My reasons being, his presence brought a team from the cellar to first place in the entire league. Not only that, but the competition they have to play in the West is harder then what the Heat play in the East. Shaq turned the Heat from a playoff team into a title contender, but Nash turned his team from a non-playoff team to a title contender, so thats why I choose him.

Its Shaq. The Heat didn't just turn from a playoff team to a title contender, they are going to improve by 18 games, meanwhile the Lakers lost an extra 20 games. Not to mention that the Heat gave away their star player, a solid role player and a great 6th man. They were a totally different team. You can't argue that all he did was give them the extra push, they were a totally different team this year.

I would love if Nash won as point guards are my favourite players and Nash has always been a personal fav. The way I see it is that you could put handful of players in Nash's shoes and they would also put up great numbers.

Also, has there ever been an MVP that was as big a defensive liability as Nash?

nash, with o'neal and iverson as a close third.

Iverson has carried that team on his back to the playoffs.

Nash. It's bias.

I think it's Nash's to loose. It seems he's this year's favourite player of the commentators, media, etc.

A.I or Shaq

what about LeBron?

I hope Nash wins. he's the man

Lebron ain't winning shit if his team doesn't make the playoffs

LeBron isnt even if the playofs right now. Hell K G gets the MVP for the non playoff teams. I am acually going to have to say, I.A. if he can get to the playoffs.

My Case for A.I.

He has no other superstars. Shaq has Wade, Nash has Stod and Marion. He is 6th in assist per game, I believe. Leading scorer per game. They traded his decent talent for Webber and well, Webber has just sucked since he got their. Without Nash and Shaq, I believe their teams could still get to the playoffs. Without A.I. Phili might be worst than Alanta.

My Fun Fact

As of right now the Hawks (Alanta Basketball) have 2 more wins than the Falcons (Alanta Football). 12 to 10.

Reggie Miller. The Pacers wouldnt be in the playoffs without him averaging 17 pts a game and 20 pts a game in the second half of the season.

I think O'Neal deserves it. Seriously, outside of Wade the Heat has some very mediocre players that look incredible out there because he gives them so muhc freedom to roame. Where was Udonis Haslem last year?

But I think Nash is going to get the vote. Hard to argue with 60+ wins abd totally turning a team around that basically only had a 7 man rotation this year. Plus, the Suns were just god awful w/o him.

I like the AI vote, too, though. He's been so gutsy this year, especially the last 3 weeks where every game was a must. And CWebb (shockingly!) did the el foldo under pressure,, so again he's been a one-man team.

Eddie Jones is a decent player, Damon Jones isnt that bad eithier. Alonzo (late pick up) is a good 6th man.

You have to remember that last year, the Suns did not have a point gaurd. They traded Marbury, for basically no one. Was Quienten part of the team last year to? I do not remember.

Damon Jones is a mediocre swingman. I have a persoanl bias against Jones because he made a career out of vanishing for the Lakers in any game that remotely counted. Zo is just a big body at this point in this career. He's not a "sixth man;" he just gets up whenever Shaq needs a breather or they don't want him to pick up a foul.

And no, Quentin Richardson was still on the Clips last year.

Damon Jones is having an incredible year, especially from beyond three point land, but Eddie Jones actually didn't have a great year on his standards. That's much because he was moved into the three slot so Damon could play 2 guard, but just saying.

I think that Nash will get it too, but Shaq really is just as worthy. Like I was saying a lot in my other thread, the Heat were a very young team last year and looked on the verge of breaking out, so if they hadn't added Shaq I still think they would have been top 3 in the East, but Shaq realized that if he went there they would be an easy No. 1 in the East. The thing about Nash is that he went to a team that was far out of the playoffs, essentially only added Q-Rich, and won 60 games with them against harder competition. So taking nothing away from Shaq, because its not like he was a slouch or anything, but just based on the circumstances Nash did more for his team.

There is also the idea that only a good big man, usually Shaq is the one talked about, can open up the floor and make the shooting guards better. That is such an inaccurate statement because there are a lot of guards who are as effective as Shaq at doing it (don't take this as me saying that Shaq isn't any more valuble then the PG's, because he still has his inside game which the PG's don't). I'm just saying that there are some guards who drive the lane well that open up the court just as much as a big man can. Nash did exactly that, Kidd does it, Kobe does it, so its not like only Shaq is capable of opening up the floor. Look at Q-Rich and Joe Johnson for examples of that. Next year when JJ walks for more money, I bet he's not nearly as effective. Unless he's on the Heat :)

Nash should, but Shaq will get it. AI should also be considered as well, for taking that team of scrubs (yes, C-Webb is a scrub too) to the playoffs.

I think Nash should win, but I don't see how you could really argue with Shaq i he wins it.

Shaq is the leagues "best" player, but Nash is the MVP. I've been following Nash since his days at Santa Clara as he is a fellow Canuck and couldn't be any happier for the guy. To think that the Raptors and Vancouver both took a pass on him kills me. A franchise Canadian player on a Canadian team. Perhaps The Grizz would still be in Vancouver if they would've picked him up.

I like AI, I respect how hard he works etc, but I don't think he should be an MVP candidate. Unlike the other guys in this thread, he doesn't make his teammates much better. Sure he gets assists, but thats bound to happen when you handle the ball. AI just goes in and shoots too many bad shots. He is a great player and put up a great effort this year, but MVP is pushing it way too far.

Memhet Okur

Steve Nash, because he led his team to the best record in the leauge, in a harder conference, than Shaq had too. Also last year the Suns didnt even make the playoffs, the heat made it to the second round.

Flair just said what I said, but in a much more efficient manner.

Wouldn't really use the whole this conference is better than that conference argument. This is the MVP, regardless of which conference it's in. Always get aggravated when people use that argument.

Nash did more for a team playing in harder competition, how does that aggravate you?

Nash's team just beat the Denver Nuggets who have lost all of 4 games since the All-Star break. Matter of fact I think 2 or maybe even 3 of those losses have been to Phoenix.

Well, first off, this year I don't think it's as one sided as it has been in the past. Without looking at standings and whatnot, I think teams with winning records in the eastern conference vs. western is the same. With that said, I am not saying the Western isn't tougher, but it definately isn't as much as you put on. Last year the teams with winning records were weighed heavily to the Western side. I think like, 4 teams from the Eastern conference had winning records last year compared to 9 from the Western?

Anyway, When people bring up "This guy should be MVP because he plays in a tougher conference" aggravates me. Most Valuable Player. Not Most Valuable Player who plays in the toughest conference. It's not like Miami doesn't play the same teams as Phoenix basically. 19-9 or so vs. the Western conference I'm guessing, don't quote me on that because I'm not going to go back and look at the standings or whatevv (Sac, Denver, Dallas, SA, Phoenix, Minn come to my mind, and they have beaten every single one of those teams save Dallas.) Not too bad.

I know what you are saying, and I agree that the East is definately more competitive this year, and every team in the playoffs deserves to be there (remember there were like two sub-500 teams last year or something rediculous?) Now with the resurgence of Boston and Philly with the surge by the Heat, it isn't nearly as bad as it had been. If the Pacers were at full strength it would actually be a really powerful conference, but the way things work out now, the West is still stronger overall.

What I mean by that is that in the West, you have fewer games against shitty teams. Even after that, there are teams in the East that have a shot at making the playoffs that would probably be below #10 in the West, like Cleveland, Philly, you could even make the case for teams like Washington.

So yeah, the argument isn't as relevant as it used to be, but I still think that in the context it is being used here it still works.