Which MVP(if any) did Steve Nash deserve?

[D.J.]

2005 Nash
-15.5 PPG
-3.3 RPG
-11.5 APG
-1.0 SPG
-34.3 MPG
-50.2% from the field
-43.1% from downtown
-22.0 PER
-60.6 TS%
-55.7 eFG%
-Suns 2-5 without Nash


2005 Shaq
-22.9 PPG
-10.4 RPG
-2.7 APG
-2.3 BPG
-34.1 MPG
-60.1% from the field
-27.0 PER
-58.3 TS%
-60.1 eFG%
-Heat 6-3 without Shaq
-------------------------------------------------------------
2006 Nash
-18.8 PPG
-4.2 RPG
-10.5 APG
-0.8 SPG
-35.4 MPG
-51.2% from the field
-23.3 PER
-63.2 TS%
-58.3 eFG%
-Suns 0-3 without Nash


2006 Kobe
-35.4 PPG
-5.3 RPG
-4.5 APG
-1.8 SPG
-41.0 MPG
-45.0% from the field
-28.0 PER
-55.9 TS%
-49.1 eFG%
-Lakers 0-2 without Kobe


2006 LeBron
-31.4 PPG
-7.0 RPG
-6.6 APG
-1.3 SPG
-0.7 BPG
-42.5 MPG
-48.0% from the field
-28.1 PER
-56.8 TS%
-51.5 eFG%
-Cavs 3-0 without LeBron


2006 Dirk
-26.6 PPG
-9.0 RPG
-2.8 APG
-1.0 BPG
-38.1 MPG
-48.0% from the field
-28.1 PER
-58.9 TS%
-51.5 eFG%
-Mavs lost only game Dirk didn't play

[G-train]

Shaq was truely the MVP in 05, stats dont come close to showing his imapct for Miami that season.

He was the favourite all season too until some stupid journos started hyping Nash.

Its pathetic that these people choose 'the best player'.

[G-train]

I'm comfortable with Nash in 06.

[G-train]

http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8740

[EricForman]

Back to back is probably a bit much, but Nash deserves at least one. And not necessarily in 05 and 06, but 2007 (the year he didn't win).

To defend Nash's MVPs...

2006 was a year where no one really had a much stronger case. Kobe was great obviously but his team was mediocre. The Pistons ran amok throughout the regular season but that was team everyone agreed had no true superstar/most important player. The Spurs, if I remember correctly (I'm doing all this off memory and not googling) had the best record in the West but that was the year Tim Duncan had career lows in points. Lebron was amazing as always but his team was also mediocre.

Nash upped his 2005 numbers and still led his team to 50+ wins despite losing Amare and Joe Johnson. He exceeded expectations, and we all know how much that sway voters (cough Derrick Rose cough)

It was one of those years where no one could say "wait a minute, I have a much better case than Nash for the MVP".

Bottom line: perhaps 2 MVPs for Nash is a bit much, but he definitely should have one somewhere.

About the 2005 MVP: I, too, like many, thought it was RIDICULOUS at the time that Nash beat out Shaq. But then came the second round of the playoffs... Nash pulled a Jordan/Magic performance on the Mavericks while Shaq sat out two games in the second round and Miami didn't even miss a beat.

[G-train]

Back to back is probably a bit much, but Nash deserves at least one. And not necessarily in 05 and 06, but 2007 (the year he didn't win).

To defend Nash's MVPs...

2006 was a year where no one really had a much stronger case. Kobe was great obviously but his team was mediocre. The Pistons ran amok throughout the regular season but that was team everyone agreed had no true superstar/most important player. The Spurs, if I remember correctly (I'm doing all this off memory and not googling) had the best record in the West but that was the year Tim Duncan had career lows in points. Lebron was amazing as always but his team was also mediocre.

Nash upped his 2005 numbers and still led his team to 50+ wins despite losing Amare and Joe Johnson. He exceeded expectations, and we all know how much that sway voters (cough Derrick Rose cough)

It was one of those years where no one could say "wait a minute, I have a much better case than Nash for the MVP".

Bottom line: perhaps 2 MVPs for Nash is a bit much, but he definitely should have one somewhere.

About the 2005 MVP: I, too, like many, thought it was RIDICULOUS at the time that Nash beat out Shaq. But then came the second round of the playoffs... Nash pulled a Jordan/Magic performance on the Mavericks while Shaq sat out two games in the second round and Miami didn't even miss a beat.

Dirk was a real shot in 06, and there was even some Elton Brand talk.

[Friday]

06 was more deserving than 05. I actually think his 07 run gets really overlooked. I remember the 07 race was between Dirk and Nash, Nash getting his 3rd or Dirk getting his 1st. Wow, imagine Nash getting his 3rd. :oldlol:

[wally_world]

All of them. The next one as well (which Dirk won)

[SunsCaptain]

06 was more deserving than 05. I actually think his 07 run gets really overlooked. I remember the 07 race was between Dirk and Nash, Nash getting his 3rd or Dirk getting his 1st. Wow, imagine Nash getting his 3rd. :oldlol:


I can see it... 19/4/12 on AMAZING shooting.

I say Steve Nash MVP every year from 05- 08 and then slip him another MVP in 10'

:D Beast mode

Edit: you know what just Give him the MVP year from 05' straight through to 10' He even had a case for this year.

[the_wise_one]

Both of those that he actually got and one more that Dirk won.

[NumberSix]

The NBA is rigged for African born white Canadians..... Duh.

[Odinn]

1990- Magic
1991- Jordan
1992- Jordan
1993- Barkley (Hakeem)
1994- Hakeem (Robinson)
1995- Robinson
1996- Jordan
1997- K. Malone (Jordan)
1998- K. Malone (Jordan)
1999- Duncan (Zo or Malone)
2000- Shaq
2001- Shaq
2002- Duncan
2003- Duncan
2004- Garnett
2005- Shaq (Nash)
2006- Kobe (Nash or Dirk)
2007- Dirk
2008- CP3 (Kobe)
2009- Lebron
2010- Lebron
2011- Dwight (Lebron)

From
The "who should have been" MVP in the year...
thread

[bdreason]

Love Steve Nash, but I wouldn't have given him either MVP.

[QuebecBaller]

What was the record of the Suns the year before Nash? 29-53
What was the record of the Suns after the first year with Nash? 62-20

He deserve his '05 MVP

[JtotheIzzo]

He was the favourite all season too until some stupid journos started hyping Nash.


This is factually incorrect, your memory has failed you. And Shaq missed a fair number of games down the stretch.

Phoenix added Nash and went from a 20 something win team to a near 60 win team (or 60 win, too lazy to google). At the all star break people were coming to grips with the fact that Nash was perhaps the MVP of the first half but they expected him to tail off and slow down in the second half. Never happened, MVP.

So nice he did it twice.

[brantonli]

For his second MVP, he turned Shawn Marion into a monster on stats (yeah I play too much fantasy) but it was thanks to Nash and the system that Marion was ranked no. 1 of all players (even above LeBron and Garnett). And of course, nobody had any expectations for the Suns, because Amare went down. In fact, both seasons, Nash won the MVP due to the 'What the F**K, the Suns aren't supposed to be THAT good!' reason.

[Nick Young]

0 MVPs, he played on the most stacked team in the league, Amare, Marion, Joe Johnson,Barbosa, Bell, bullshit MVPs, the only two time MVP to never even get to the finals:roll: :roll: :roll:

Just look at that, two of those players are currently first options on playoff teams, Nash still couldn't get it done with them, some MVP

[Odinn]

This is factually incorrect, your memory has failed you. And Shaq missed a fair number of games down the stretch.

Phoenix added Nash and went from a 20 something win team to a near 60 win team (or 60 win, too lazy to google). At the all star break people were coming to grips with the fact that Nash was perhaps the MVP of the first half but they expected him to tail off and slow down in the second half. Never happened, MVP.

So nice he did it twice.
Shaq played 73 games(2492 minutes) in 04-05 season.
Nash played 75 games(2573 minutes) in 04-05 season.

At least; try to search.:facepalm

[pauk]

All Of Them............

MVP = The best player on one of the 2-3 best teams (who had the best team record)...........

[Nick Young]

This is factually incorrect, your memory has failed you. And Shaq missed a fair number of games down the stretch.

Phoenix added Nash and went from a 20 something win team to a near 60 win team (or 60 win, too lazy to google). At the all star break people were coming to grips with the fact that Nash was perhaps the MVP of the first half but they expected him to tail off and slow down in the second half. Never happened, MVP.

So nice he did it twice.
So what, Nash came and made a bad team into a perennial early playoff exit team, Shaq came and made his team a champion caliber team which the Suns never were.

And then the next year Kobe took what is perhaps the worst roster in the history of the NBA with Smush Parker, Luke Walton and Chris Mihm starting to the playoffs, if Kobe wasn't there that team would have 5 wins max.

Nash is the most underserving MVP in the history of MVPs

[Nick Young]

All Of Them............

MVP = The best player on one of the 2-3 best teams (who had the best team record)...........
Suns were never a top 3 team in the league, they had an overinflated regular season record but were never genuine contenders, much like the magic. Regular season champions aren't contenders.

[Friday]

For his second MVP, he turned Shawn Marion into a monster on stats (yeah I play too much fantasy) but it was thanks to Nash and the system that Marion was ranked no. 1 of all players (even above LeBron and Garnett). And of course, nobody had any expectations for the Suns, because Amare went down. In fact, both seasons, Nash won the MVP due to the 'What the F**K, the Suns aren't supposed to be THAT good!' reason.
Marion was already good before Nash. No wonder why Marion always get pissed off about that. :facepalm

[Jall]

You don't have to agree with Nash winning his MVPs, but they were both justified.

[All Net]

06 was more deserving than 05 but the way Suns surprised everybody by winning that many games is why he got it.

[donald_trump]

he increased a teams wins by 33 games in the year he came. thats unheard of. shaq was his only competition that year, and it was honestly a toss up as to who got it.

06 was well deserved. great stats on one of the top teams.

you could argue that he should have 3. i believe he deserved it over dirk in 07 as well.

the fact that people argue kidd and stockton over nash is hilarious. they never had the impact nash had.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Probably 2005. Best record in the league, led the best offensive in the league(and Phoenix got the best record by being the best offensive team while being a mediocre defensive team). Could score when he needed to and was an elite shooter, but instead used his great passing ability to make the game easier for his teammates most of the time. The Suns 2-5 record without him and how much the offense struggled without him should help demonstrate his value.

It's debatable between Nash, Shaq and even Nowitzki, imo(despite Dirk not getting a first place vote)

He had a case in 2006 as well, but without the best record(or even close to it), I'm not sure he's the most deserving. Regardless, Marion, Bell and Diaw all had career years alongside Nash and Steve himself picked up some of the scoring slack with Stoudemire out and Johnson gone, without his efficiency dropping off(it got better actually), and he led the league in assists again while Phoenix remained elite offensively.

But as it is, 54 wins and 4th best record in the NBA is low for MVP, and if we're going to not focus on record so much then Kobe might be a better choice, since 45 wins was an accomplishment with that roster and Kobe was the best player in the league(in my opinion as well as the majority of people at the time from what I observed).

But the candidate with the least flaws in his case is actually Dirk. He won 60 games with a cast that was good, but not so talented that you expect him to win 60, he averaged 27/9/3 on great efficiency and as usual, the Mavs really relied on him. I'm not saying he is the clear choice either, but he definitely had an MVP-caliber season.

[Go Getter]

Love Steve Nash, but I wouldn't have given him either MVP.
This.

[JtotheIzzo]

Shaq played 73 games(2492 minutes) in 04-05 season.
Nash played 75 games(2573 minutes) in 04-05 season.

At least; try to search.:facepalm

He missed 5 out of their 9 games in April, so saying 'he missed a fair amount of games down the stretch' is extremely accurate, save the face palms for another time, or perhaps try doing a search yourself.

and in the last 9 games of that season that he played, they lost 5. and there were only 27 games after the All Star break that season, and Shaq missed 9 of them (1/3) while playing 2 minutes in another.

So when the voting was close at the ASG, and O'Neal missed 33% of the games post ASG, there is fair reason to say what I said and it raises a few eye brows.

Keep to f*ckin with trolls and stay in your lane little boy, f*ckin with me might get you injured.

[rodman91]

Both.:applause:

[All Net]

Suns were never a top 3 team in the league, they had an overinflated regular season record but were never genuine contenders, much like the magic. Regular season champions aren't contenders.

They weren't top contenders as in most likely to win it all but they were still contenders.

[Lebron23]

2006

[pauk]

all of them