The criteria for winning the NBA MVP are not an exact science. Sometimes the award recipient is about as logical as the Knicks' selection of seven-foot Frederic Weis in the '99 draft. Clearly, the award has a historical precedent for not going to the best player in the league. Why? Because it would not be interesting if it came down to Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett every year.
What is most important is the performance of a player's team, especially if his team is in the midst of a dramatic turnaround. Duncan is not being talked about much because his consistency becomes downright boring to the media. Garnett is not being talked about because his Wolves are floundering. The player that is being talked about is the floppy-haired point guard in Phoenix. If the season ended at the All-Star break, Steve Nash would in all likelihood be the league MVP.
The turnaround of the Suns has been the main motive in MVP discussions involving Nash. Dallas owner Mark Cuban let Nash walk without compensation, a blunder that makes you think Cuban should reconsider that management position at Dairy Queen. After signing him as an unrestricted free agent, Phoenix has risen from the doldrums of the NBA on pace to break the record for wins in a season.
Scoring an average of 109 points per game, the Suns were cruising with a record of 31-5 until Nash went down in a Jan. 14 game against Indiana. They then dropped their next four games, averaging 86 points per game. Without Nash, Phoenix's high octane offense sputtered like a '91 Chevy Nova. With Nash back, the Suns have gone 10-3, scoring an average of 118 ppg. So obviously the moral is that if you are an MVP candidate looking to improve your chances, get hurt.
An MVP award for Nash would be nothing short of astounding. Almost every player who won the honor has been among the scoring leaders in the league. With an average of 15.5 points per game, Nash would have the lowest scoring average of an MVP since Wes Unseld in 1969. Unseld averaged 13.8 points to go with 18.2 rebounds in his rookie season, becoming the only player to win the MVP and Rookie-of-the-Year award in the same year. Nash would have the third lowest scoring average among league MVPs behind Unseld and Bill Russell. Russell averaged only 14.1 points in the '64-'65 season, but was chiefly recognized for his defensive dominance during the Celtics dynasty.
Scoring has never been what Nash is about, though. Since John Stockton retired, Nash has assumed the role of premier passing point guard in the NBA, averaging a league-leading 11 dishes a game.
Assists, though, are a stat dependent upon teammates, and Nash would not be putting up such glamorous passing numbers without the likes of Amare Stoudamire, Shawn Marion, and Quentin Richardson. Stoudamire is having an absolute breakout season with Nash at the point, averaging 26 points a contest, good for fourth in the league. If you are going to consider Nash for the award, it would be ridiculous to leave Amare Stoudamire, Nash's running mate, out of the argument.
In a lot of ways, Nash's popularity in terms of MVP speculation has been a matter of fortunate circumstance. People look at the Suns and see a team that went through a New Jersey-esque transformation when Kidd went to the Nets. The Suns finished the '03-'04 season at 29-53 the second worst record in the Western Conference. They have already eclipsed that win total this season. So, when the insightful basketball pundits in the media see a team that has gone through such a dramatic positive change, they look for its impetus. Marion and Stoudamire were both around last year, and Richardson is good but not great, so they turn to Nash.
That logic is sound, but it does not take into account a lot of other factors. For one, Stoudamire was hurt for the start of last season, which caused management to concede the season and trade their star point guard, Stephon Marbury, for a lot of luggage that's only good for creating cap space. Essentially, Stoudamire's injury led to Phoenix mortgaging their season for a chance to create cap room in hopes of signing Kobe Bryant.
Not only did the Suns return a healthy, developing Stoudamire this season, but they added Quentin Richardson, a very good shooting guard previously buried in Clipper-land. Clearly, Nash isn't the only reason for this team's turnaround.
Still, you could point to the stretch of the season where Nash missed four games and Phoenix stumbled. What that proved more than anything is the lack of depth on this Phoenix team. An injury to either Marion, Stoudamire or Nash would be devastating to this team, which arguably has the worst bench in the league. It just so happened, though, that Nash was the one who got hurt, the team struggled, and Nash looked even more valuable.
It's hard to draw the line between productivity and "value" when considering MVP honors. It is a fickle award. But it is an award heavily affected by trends and dramatic, often unexpected success. No team has had a better story than Phoenix, and the new man running that stellar offense is Steve Nash.
