Most Undeserved MVP selections

[NumberSix]

The first 2 that come to mind are Derrick rose and Allen Iverson.

AI winning over Shaq was a joke and Rose shouldn't have finished any higher than #7.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Yeah. Dwight would have been my vote for '11.

[BasedTom]

Prepare for every other post ITT to be Rose and Nash, OP

[imdaman99]

how many times are you gonna make the same thread with a few different variation of words? :biggums:

[Legends66NBA7]

Karl Malone in 97 and 99.

More deserving in 98, though.

[jimmy77x]

Most undeserved rigged ROY your idol/man crush.

[ProfessorMurder]

Dirk got robbed in '11
Kobe didn't deserve '08

[Duncan21formvp]

Explain how Dwight was more deserving in 2011 when he couldn't get his team out of round 1 with HCA vs a sorry Atlanta team.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

Explain how Dwight was more deserving in 2011 when he couldn't get his team out of round 1 with HCA vs a sorry Atlanta team.
it is a regular season award.

[Graviton]

how many times are you gonna make the same thread with a few different variation of words? :biggums:
I am starting to think this guy and Silk are the same person. They make the exact same threads and hate on same players.

Hey Jeff do an IP check on him will ya?

[NumberSix]

Most undeserved rigged ROY your idol/man crush.
Who da fcuk shoulda won it? Laetner? :roll:

[jimmy77x]

The guy who had slightly better stats and who's team actually went to the playoffs.

[NumberSix]

Dirk got robbed in '11
Kobe didn't deserve '08
I would have put Dirk at about #3 or #4 in 2011. I don't think he should have won it, but he was certainly better than Rose.

[Heavincent]

I honestly don't really have a problem with Rose getting the MVP. I don't care what anyone says, 25/8/4 on 45% shooting while leading your team to the 1 seed is an MVP caliber season.

[1987_Lakers]

Rose in 2011 (D. Howard)
Iverson in 2001 (Shaq)
Malone in 1999 (Duncan)
Malone in 1997 (MJ)
Magic in 1990 (MJ)
Cowens in 1973 (Kareem)
Reed in 1970 (J. West)

[NumberSix]

I honestly don't really have a problem with Rose getting the MVP. I don't care what anyone says, 25/8/4 on 45% shooting while leading your team to the 1 seed is an MVP caliber season.
There's no such thing as "an MVP calibre season". You're either #1 that season or you're not.

[NumberSix]

Rose in 2011 (D. Howard)
Iverson in 2001 (Shaq)
Malone in 1999 (Duncan)
Malone in 1997 (MJ)
Magic in 1990 (MJ)
Cowens in 1973 (Kareem)
Reed in 1970 (J. West)
I could agree with pretty much everything on this list

[Dodonpa9]

Labong Jaimes :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Shep]

nash in '05 and '06

[2006suns]

mailman. the media just went with him coz jordan 'failed' to top his 72-10 season the year before. revisionist history here, but i would've handed the mvp to duncan in '99 as well.

[Figlo]

2x Nash and Kobe

[dh144498]

how many times is OP going to make this thread?

anyway answer is: lebron 09, 10, 12, 13 if he wins this year.

[longtime lurker]

I honestly don't really have a problem with Rose getting the MVP. I don't care what anyone says, 25/8/4 on 45% shooting while leading your team to the 1 seed is an MVP caliber season.

Only on insidehoops could that be considered subpar. Replace Rose name with Lebron and posters on this site would be jizzing themselves. Anyways the answer is both Nash MVP"s and Lebron in 2012

[elementally morale]

I don't think there has ever been anyone not deserving. All these guys who are in the running work their asses off. Some of the time there were players who were probably more deserving than the actual winner. But this is no wonder in a league where team record is a big part of the award that is given by the media to begin with.

[Frozen1]

Wade should have won in 2009, but lebron had a case because of the team record.

[Blue&Orange]

I am starting to think this guy and Silk are the same person. They make the exact same threads and hate on same players.

Hey Jeff do an IP check on him will ya?
Same IQ also.

[Smoke117]

Purely stat wise Malone DESERVED THE MVP AWARD IN 97. His stats, per, whatever you want to bring up were better. I also don't remember Karl Malaone playing with a Scottie Pippen on his team either. Stock was grreat, but he was no Pippen by 97.

Either way, Malone absolutely derserved that MVP AWARD.

[Smoke117]

iverson and Derrick Rose. End of discussion.

[Just2McFly]

mvp is a narrative award and there was definitely a story behind iverson's mvp. i dont think that rose's or iverson's were as bad as Kobe's makeup award in 2008 and Nash's appeal to white america award in 06

CP3 was playing on level FEW have ever reached

Kobe was straight killing people in 06, im pretty sure jalen rose never saw the court as a starter after that season

how they didnt win those years makes no sense to me


people say that nash was playing without amare for most of the year, kobe had freaking kwame and smush for f*cks sake

i think that iverson had an amazing case for mvp that year, i know people rag on that selection because of shaq's dominance but iverson was dominant that year as well. it's too bad that he didn't have a top 5 player doing work on his squad as well. i think that the emergence of a superstar level kobe detracted votes from shaq that year

[deja vu]

Steve Nash is the most undeserving MVP.

[che guevara]

Purely stat wise Malone DESERVED THE MVP AWARD IN 97. His stats, per, whatever you want to bring up were better. I also don't remember Karl Malaone playing with a Scottie Pippen on his team either. Stock was grreat, but he was no Pippen by 97.

Either way, Malone absolutely derserved that MVP AWARD.
Personally, I think the media got the awards backwards in '97 and '98. Jordan should've won in '97, Malone in '98.

[ShaqAttack3234]

This has been done a million times, but what the hell....

Here are some I'd change.

2011- Rose (Howard)
2006- Nash (Kobe)
2001- Iverson (Shaq)
1999- Malone (Duncan)
1997- Malone (Jordan)
1993- Barkley (Hakeem)
1990- Magic (Jordan)
1988- Jordan (Bird)
1981- Erving (Kareem)
1979- Moses (Kareem)
1973- Cowens (Kareem)
1970- Reed (Kareem)
1969- Unseld (Reed)

There are some others I'm kind of undecided of either way. This would have given Kareem 9-10 MVPs(I'm unsure about '76 since the Lakers were 40-42)

[thabisyo]

Rose getting the MVP was just a punishment to lebron for making the decision :banghead:

[NumberSix]

Rose getting the MVP was just a punishment to lebron for making the decision :banghead:
Forget LeBron. He's only 1 of 6 players who where clearly ahead of Rose in 2011.

[jcsrplumply]

Charles Barkley deserved that 1990 MVP.
Nash 05 - (Shaq)
Nash 06 - (Kobe)

[thabisyo]

Forget LeBron. He's only 1 of 6 players who where clearly ahead of Rose in 2011.

to make things worse, he goes and chokes in the ECF :rant

[DatAsh]

Generally, I'd say that the voters do a pretty decent job of voting for the most valuable player. Rarely do I see a player win for which there isn't at least a strong argument for that player. However, there are certain years where, imo, a more valuable player existed that didn't get the selection. Hindsight is 20/20, and can be a somewhat difficult thing to ignore, but I'll do my best. Bolded are the years that I would change.

1956 - Pettit (Arizin)
1957 - Cousy (Pettit)
1958 - Russell (Pettit)
1959 - Pettit (Russell)
1960 - Chamberlain (Russell)
1961 - Russell
1962 - Russell
1963 - Russell
1964 - Robertson (Russell)
1965 - Russell
1966 - Chamberlain
1967 - Chamberlain
1968 - Chamberlain
1969 - Unseld (Russell)
1970 - Reed (West)
1971 - Alcindor
1972 - Abdul-Jabbar (Chamberlain)
1973 - Cowens (Abdul-Jabbar)
1974 - Abdul-Jabbar
1975 - McAdoo (Barry)
1976 - Abdul-Jabbar (Erving)
1977 - Abdul-Jabbar (Walton)
1978 - Walton
1979 - Malone (Abdul-Jabbar)
1980 - Abdul-Jabbar
1981 - Erving (Bird)
1982 - Malone
1983 - Malone
1984 - Bird
1985 - Bird
1986 - Bird
1987 - Johnson
1988 - Jordan (Bird)
1989 - Johnson (Jordan)
1990 - Johnson (Jordan)
1991 - Jordan
1992 - Jordan
1993 - Barkley (Jordan)
1994 - Olajuwon
1995 - Robinson (Olajuwon)
1996 - Jordan
1997 - Malone (Jordan)
1998 - Jordan
1999 - Malone (Duncan)
2000 - O'Neal
2001 - Iverson (O'Neal)
2002 - Duncan (O'Neal)
2003 - Duncan
2004 - Garnett
2005 - Nash (Duncan)
2006 - Nash (Bryant)
2007 - Nowitzki (Bryant)
2008 - Bryant
2009 - James
2010 - James
2011 - Rose (James)
2012 - James

Looking back at my selections, there are a few curious results that I hadn't noticed when going year by year and making my selections. For instance, I stripped Magic down to just one mvp, and gave Bird an extra 2, yet I think Magic was the better player of the two. Most of that coincidence is attributable to timing I think, or maybe I have some things I need to reconsider.

[Psycho]

Generally, I'd say that the voters do a pretty decent job of voting for the most valuable player. Rarely do I see a player win for which there isn't at least a strong argument for that player. However, there are certain years where, imo, a more valuable player existed that didn't get the selection. Hindsight is 20/20, and can be a somewhat difficult thing to ignore, but I'll do my best. Bolded are the years that I would change.

1956 - Pettit (Arizin)
1957 - Cousy (Pettit)
1958 - Russell (Pettit)
1959 - Pettit (Russell)
1960 - Chamberlain (Russell)
1961 - Russell
1962 - Russell
1963 - Russell
1964 - Robertson (Russell)
1965 - Russell
1966 - Chamberlain
1967 - Chamberlain
1968 - Chamberlain
1969 - Unseld (Russell)
1970 - Reed (West)
1971 - Alcindor
1972 - Abdul-Jabbar (Chamberlain)
1973 - Cowens (Abdul-Jabbar)
1974 - Abdul-Jabbar
1975 - McAdoo (Barry)
1976 - Abdul-Jabbar (Erving)
1977 - Abdul-Jabbar (Walton)
1978 - Walton
1979 - Malone (Abdul-Jabbar)
1980 - Abdul-Jabbar
1981 - Erving (Bird)
1982 - Malone
1983 - Malone
1984 - Bird
1985 - Bird
1986 - Bird
1987 - Johnson
1988 - Jordan (Bird)
1989 - Johnson (Jordan)
1990 - Johnson (Jordan)
1991 - Jordan
1992 - Jordan
1993 - Barkley (Jordan)
1994 - Olajuwon
1995 - Robinson (Olajuwon)
1996 - Jordan
1997 - Malone (Jordan)
1998 - Jordan
1999 - Malone (Duncan)
2000 - O'Neal
2001 - Iverson (O'Neal)
2002 - Duncan (O'Neal)
2003 - Duncan
2004 - Garnett
2005 - Nash (Duncan)
2006 - Nash (Bryant)
2007 - Nowitzki (Bryant)
2008 - Bryant
2009 - James
2010 - James
2011 - Rose (James)
2012 - James

Looking back at my selections, there are a few curious results that I hadn't noticed when going year by year and making my selections. For instance, I stripped Magic down to just one mvp, and gave Bird an extra 2, yet I think Magic was the better player of the two. Most of that coincidence is attributable to timing I think, or maybe I have some things I need to reconsider.

Alright list, but you're missing Perkins. He should have at least 5 MVPS. :hammerhead:
Better luck next time, kid.

[D.J.]

1990- Magic won, should have been Barkley

2006- Nash won, should have been Kobe


There have been other years where someone deserved the award over the winner, but '90 and '06 were the two years where runner up deserved MVP much more than the actual winner.

[BeanBryant]

Kobe should have at least 3 mvps. 2006, 2007, 2008 for sure.

[D.J.]

Kobe should have at least 3 mvps. 2006, 2007, 2008 for sure.


He did win it in '08. '06 he definitely deserved it. '07, Dirk and LeBron had better cases.

[Psycho]

Kobe should have at least 3 mvps. 2006, 2007, 2008 for sure.

Paul was better than string bean in 08

[ShaqAttack3234]

He did win it in '08. '06 he definitely deserved it. '07, Dirk and LeBron had better cases.

Definitely not Lebron in 2007. Lebron had a down year that season. I thought Kobe was clearly better than Lebron in 2006, and to a lesser extent in 2008, but the gap between the 2 was easily the biggest in 2007 out of those 3 years.

Lebron didn't have any real case for MVP in 2007.

[Human Error]

Nash's 2 MVPs over Shaq / Lebron
Iverson over Shaq
Rose over Lebron

[D.J.]

Paul was better than string bean in 08


My vote for MVP in '08 was also for CP3, but Kobe winning it was not at all a travesty. The were also 30-16 before Pau arrived, so it's not like Kobe wasn't getting it done without Pau.

[NumberSix]

Kobes Brian winning in 08 was fine IMO.

[DMAVS41]

Kobe should have at least 3 mvps. 2006, 2007, 2008 for sure.

07? Absolutely no case. Dirk had a 50/42/90 season and led a bunch of misfits to 67 wins.

08? Yep....although if you think Kobe deserved it in 07...then I'm sure a bunch of Paul fans would disagree. Kobe was the right choice though.

06? Could have gone to a number of different people...don't think Kobe had a better case than any of them though.

But no...absolutely not 07.

[Psycho]

Dirk is a fcukin piece of shit.

Why are you so angry? Who hurt you? I want to help, just open your heart to me.

[Psycho]

Perkins is a fcukin piece of shit.

Yeah, he's pretty bad.

[ShaqAttack3234]

07? Absolutely no case. Dirk had a 50/42/90 season and led a bunch of misfits to 67 wins.

Group of misfits? That's a real exaggeration. The Mavs had a good team around Dirk. 67 win good? I wouldn't have predicted that, and the biggest reason was Dirk's remarkable play, his best all around regular season, but lets not make them out to be a bad or average team.


06? Could have gone to a number of different people...don't think Kobe had a better case than any of them though.

Dirk probably had the best case by the criteria many use, and probably the least arguments you could make against him. I think Kobe had a better case than Nash and Lebron, though. Kobe's win total was unusually low for an MVP, but I think it's clear his team overachieved the most, and I think it's obvious why, and obvious who was the best player out of those 3. And both Nash and Lebron also had low win totals compared to other MVPs.

[SilkkTheShocker]

Nash's 2 MVPs over Shaq / Lebron
Iverson over Shaq
Rose over Lebron

this.

Shaq has been robbed multiple times. Kobe's MVP was also a joke.

[GoSpursGo1984]

this.

Shaq has been robbed multiple times. Kobe's MVP was also a joke.

Kobe averaged 28ppg 6rpg and 5apg that year and his team had the best record in the Western Conference not sure what you are talking about.

[D.J.]

Kobe's MVP was also a joke.


MVP that year was between him and CP3. Though I would have given it to CP3, Kobe winning it was not at all a travesty.

[DMAVS41]

Group of misfits? That's a real exaggeration. The Mavs had a good team around Dirk. 67 win good? I wouldn't have predicted that, and the biggest reason was Dirk's remarkable play, his best all around regular season, but lets not make them out to be a bad or average team.



Dirk probably had the best case by the criteria many use, and probably the least arguments you could make against him. I think Kobe had a better case than Nash and Lebron, though. Kobe's win total was unusually low for an MVP, but I think it's clear his team overachieved the most, and I think it's obvious why, and obvious who was the best player out of those 3. And both Nash and Lebron also had low win totals compared to other MVPs.

Never said the mavs were bad in 07...but lets not pretend they were anything more than just a good team. And they were a bunch of misfits. But I don't care to debate how talented that team was...they were quite clearly one of the worst, if not the worst teams to ever reach a win total like that in the regular season. So when a player is the clear cut best player and leader of a team...and has a 50/40/90 season...and that team has one of the best regular seasons ever (with probably the worst roster to ever win 67...only Lebron's cavs come to mind as a team that was worse)...I think it's pretty clear who deserved MVP.

Best player does not always get MVP. I honestly wouldn't have an issue with Kobe winning it in 06, but like i said, he didn't really have a better case than a number of players. Not that if impacts MVP, but if the playoffs matter a lot...then Wade and Dirk both get a huge bump over Kobe for their postseason play.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Never said the mavs were bad in 07...but lets not pretend they were anything more than just a good team. And they were a bunch of misfits. But I don't care to debate how talented that team was...they were quite clearly one of the worst, if not the worst teams to ever reach a win total like that in the regular season. So when a player is the clear cut best player and leader of a team...and has a 50/40/90 season...and that team has one of the best regular seasons ever (with probably the worst roster to ever win 67...only Lebron's cavs come to mind as a team that was worse)...I think it's pretty clear who deserved MVP.

They had Josh Howard who made the all-star team, averaged 19 per game, was a good defender and often got the Mavs off to fast starts(a good complement to Dirk's late game scoring) Jason Terry, another scorer who averaged 17 ppg and had been a 20 ppg scorer in the past, obviously a very good shooter who could also handle the ball and was a pretty good playmaker. Jerry Stackhouse, one of the best scorers off the bench in the league and Devin Harris whose quickness made him a threat getting to the basket.

That's a lot of firepower on the perimeter, plus, all of those guys except Harris shot 3s very well and Dallas was not only a top 5 defensive team, but they outrebounded opponents by 3.8 rpg.

That is a championship-caliber supporting cast. They had 3 real scoring threats around Dirk, 3 point shooting, defense and rebounding.


Best player does not always get MVP. I honestly wouldn't have an issue with Kobe winning it in 06, but like i said, he didn't really have a better case than a number of players. Not that if impacts MVP, but if the playoffs matter a lot...then Wade and Dirk both get a huge bump over Kobe for their postseason play.

Don't even think best player is worth discussing in '06, Kobe was the best, as far as MVP. I don't see how Kobe doesn't have a better case over Nash, and especially Lebron. If you want to say Dirk because

[DMAVS41]

They had Josh Howard who made the all-star team, averaged 19 per game, was a good defender and often got the Mavs off to fast starts(a good complement to Dirk's late game scoring) Jason Terry, another scorer who averaged 17 ppg and had been a 20 ppg scorer in the past, obviously a very good shooter who could also handle the ball and was a pretty good playmaker. Jerry Stackhouse, one of the best scorers off the bench in the league and Devin Harris whose quickness made him a threat getting to the basket.

That's a lot of firepower on the perimeter, plus, all of those guys except Harris shot 3s very well and Dallas was not only a top 5 defensive team, but they outrebounded opponents by 3.8 rpg.

That is a championship-caliber supporting cast. They had 3 real scoring threats around Dirk, 3 point shooting, defense and rebounding.



Don't even think best player is worth discussing in '06, Kobe was the best, as far as MVP. I don't see how Kobe doesn't have a better case over Nash, and especially Lebron. If you want to say Dirk because

Definitely don't think the 07 Mavs are as good as you say, but regardless....name a worse roster to ever win 67 games. I doubt you find one.

Best player in 06? Really tough call because of the playoffs. Kobe was the best player in the regular season, but again...hard to give MVP to a player on a team that didn't have much success.

But if the playoffs matter a lot...Dirk and Wade get a huge bump over Kobe. So if you are just talking about the regular season...then I agree Kobe was the best. But sorry, the clear cut best player in the league needs to play a little better against that Suns team. Kobe just didn't do enough in that series, a 7 game series, to prove he was the clear cut best player.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Definitely don't think the 07 Mavs are as good as you say, but regardless....name a worse roster to ever win 67 games. I doubt you find one.

Excluding the star player? 2000 Lakers drop off at least as much without Shaq. They had Kobe, who was already around a top 10 player by 2000, but he missed 16 games, and that team had clear weaknesses.

5th worst 3P%
5th lowest scoring bench (3rd worst FG% off the bench)

They often had 2 or more guys on the court who weren't offensive threats either as shooters or scorers. Horry and Harper were their 2 truly solid rolid players. Shaw was fine in a smaller role as a good defensive guard and fit Phil's fondness of big guards. Rice could have been a good role player talent wise, but wasn't really what I'd call a solid contributor since he never fit into the triangle, was a liability defensively and a one-dimensional player who had an ordinary 3 point shooting season(1.1 3PM, 36.7 3P%) To put that in perspective, Terry(2.0 3PM, 43.8 3P%), Howard(1.3 3PM, 38.5 3P%) had better 3 point seasons than the Lakers only 3 point threat, and Stackhouse(0.9 3PM, 38.3 3P%) was at least as good, while Devean George(0.9 3PM, 35.3 3P%) wasn't far off.

Surprisingly, the Mavs bench wasn't much better than the Lakers statistically(7th worst in ppg, 2nd worst in FG%) though they did have Stackhouse, who was 3rd in Sixth Man voting to provided scoring off the bench.

Dallas didn't have a 2000 Kobe, but they were more well rounded, with more scoring threats and less weaknesses. Considering Kobe missed 16 games, LA winning 67 is probably a more impressive feat.

And while they didn't win 67. Lebron's Cavs won 66 which was the most unlikely, although there was a difference in conferences.


Best player in 06? Really tough call because of the playoffs. Kobe was the best player in the regular season, but again...hard to give MVP to a player on a team that didn't have much success.

But if the playoffs matter a lot...Dirk and Wade get a huge bump over Kobe. So if you are just talking about the regular season...then I agree Kobe was the best. But sorry, the clear cut best player in the league needs to play a little better against that Suns team. Kobe just didn't do enough in that series, a 7 game series, to prove he was the clear cut best player.

Come on, don't even angle for Dirk over Kobe in 2006. The Wade thing is incorrect, but at least there's the finals performance and you're not the first to say it. I've never heard anyone even hint Dirk vs Kobe was debatable in 2006. If you want to say for MVP, then sure, but best player? Not a chance.

[Big#50]

01 Iverson. Should have been Duncan.