Ok, who's your NBA MVP?

[rwesty]

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Was there any Kobe MVP talk before he went on his 4 game 50-point+ scoring spree?

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I really hope this isn't a serious question.

[rwesty]

Anyone who thinks Nash should be or ever has deserved to be MVP is completely f'n retarded.

[Green Kool Aid]

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Anyone who thinks Nash should be or ever has deserved to be MVP is completely f'n retarded.

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"He's the best basketball player on the face of the Earth," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "I don't even think it's close."

That is a direct quote from one of the top three coaches in the league. He is also a former player.

[Jack of Arcades]

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Why do so many people like GP so much????????
Nash now>>>>>>>>>>>&gt ;>>>>>>>>>>>>& gt;GP in his prime.

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I'm guessing you really don't have an idea of what kind of prime Gary Payton had.

In the 1999-00 seasons, Payton was:

All-NBA 1st Team
All-Defense 1st Team
Lead the league in assists.
Was 3rd in Steals
Was 5th in Points - Behind Shaq, Vince Carter, AI, and Karl Malone
7th in Points per game (24.2)
was tied for 7th in PER (w/KG) behind Shaq, Malone, Zo, Duncan, Admiral, and Grant Hill
Was 3rd in win Shares (behind Shaq and Malone).

Not only that, he played 41.8 minutes per game! Nash for the Suns has averaged less than 35.

Nash has never even made the top 10 in points, or averaged 20+ ppg.

And finally: Gary Payton was a very good player for almost 15 years. Nash may not even get 10.

[capone0]

Additionally, he was All D First team from 1993-94 season to 2001-2002 season. All NbA Between first and third team from 1993-1994 seasons to 2001-2002 sesaons. Won DPOY in 1995-1996 which is almost unheard of as a PG. Third alltime in steals, 6 all time in assists. Kid is a balla.

[rwesty]

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Anyone who thinks Nash should be or ever has deserved to be MVP is completely f'n retarded.

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"He's the best basketball player on the face of the Earth," Bulls coach Scott Skiles said. "I don't even think it's close."

That is a direct quote from one of the top three coaches in the league. He is also a former player.

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What he means to say is Steve Nash plays basketball exactly how he thinks the game should be played. I would agree with that. I completely understand anyone who says Nash is their favorite player to watch or that he uses his skills better than any other player. This does not mean he deserves MVP. Every single year there have been players who are better at all of the following:

- helping their team win games. (This is what the MVP award should be given out for.) Nash simply has a better team than all other MVP candidates.
- any possible statistical measure set up to produce the best player in the league. I don't know of any statistical measure that has ever put Nash at the top. Sure, there are some that put him in the top 3 but most put him outside the top 5. You can argue that his game is such that everything good he does just doesn't show up in statistics, but this is just plain wrong. Especially when you consider that he's only considered dominant as an offensive player.
- Defense. Every year the names being mentioned in contention for MVP absolutely crush Nash on defense and this is accepted as fact, somehow it's still ignored.

[SMFP]

Steve Nash

[rakes.a.beach]

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where the hell did I say they'd get 58 wins next year? I said that if Bynum continues to improve and Odom stays healthy. Bynum is the youngest player in the league- I'd say give him at least 2 more years. If he does that, then in 2 years from now(end of 2008-2009 season) I think the Lakers will be legit contenders.

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The Lakers will absolutely become a .700 team if Bynum continues to improve and Odom stays healthy.

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You said the Lakers will ABOLUSTELY become .700 (that's 58 wins+) if Bynum continues to improve and Odom stays healthy. How long would it take Bynum to improve? Another three years? hell, bobcats might be a .700 team in three years if all their players continue to imrpove.

[Artdogg]

LOL NASH SUCKS ROFL!!!111six

Now that that's out of the way, you guys who are arguing Kobe need to get your head checked. No matter how "bad" you guys claim their team to be, they are still good enough to not get swept by the Bucks and the Bobcats, and they are still good enough not to go on a 7 game losing streak after managing to get a win @ Utah. They got wins against both SAN and DAL without Odom, and opened the year 3-0 without Kobe. Play hard in all the games and not just the ones against good teams and you are right there in the MVP voting. Right now it's a 1-horse race.

[ggbman]

There are a few interesting topics in this thread I would like to weigh in on… This season I think you have to give the MVP to Dirk. Dallas is have a great season, following up on a great season where Dirk could have won. He is also one of the, if the not most versatile big men in the history of the game. He obviously doesn’t have the inside presence that some of the greats had, but his range ability to spread the floor as a big man makes other teams adjust, and he is just a great scorer. In any year there are a few people you can make an argument for, but given that Nash has gotten it two years in a row and Kobe can’t win it this year because his stats don’t compensate for the disparity between his team and Dirk’s.
As far as Kobe goes, he obviously deserves at least 1 MVP before he retires. But it shouldn’t be this year… He was a large component in tearing apart a great team, and generally MVP awards go to someone who is on a contending team. The merits of this can be debated of course, but the theory is that the most valuable player should have such a drastic effect on the game that his team is contender. Kobe hasn’t taken the Lakers out of the first round without Shaq, and they missed the playoffs 2 years ago. Furthermore, the last two years that they were together they underachieved greatly, so Kobe really hasn’t brought his team to a different level the way an MVP traditionally. I think he is still the best or second best player in the league if that makes sense, but that doesn’t translate into the effect on a game that MJ had. MJ missed the majority of his second season with a serious injury, had limited minutes when he returned, and pretty much single handedly made the bulls a serious threat to the Celtics in the 86 playoffs with a supporting cast as weak or weaker than Kobe’s. Kobe just hasn’t done that yet. He will though, and then he will get his MVP.
Nash has had another great year, but there isn’t any reason that it’s better than Dirk’s, and given that he gotten to the finals in the two years that he has won it, I think it would over the top to give him a 3rd one. As far the comparisons to Stockton, I think a few points should be made. Nash is unlikely to be a force in the league for as long as Stockton, but Nash in his prime is definitely better to have on your team than Stockton in his. His shooting % for a point guard is insane, he distributes the ball equally well, and he is much more versatile offensively. By this I mean that he can definitely create his own offense better than Stockton, and he could score more than he does while still being effective if he wanted to. Both guards are great at running point in a half court set, but Nash also is great at running an up tempo game, and that distinction isn’t as much as a given as some would think. Stockton worked with a versatile smallish lineup (Malone, russell, Jeff H. were all capable of getting up the floor) but the Jazz never had the fast break that the suns do.