Chaz
observationist
Nothing new here but still interesting.
Breaking the mold
Marty Burns, SI.com
He's short. He's got that long stringy hair that's always in his eyes. He's from Canada.
Suns point guard Steve Nash might not fit the profile of a typical NBA MVP candidate -- a soccer player or local rec league hoopster, maybe -- but a guy who's going to wrestle the Maurice Podoloff Trophy from the likes of Shaq, LeBron James and Tim Duncan? As they might say back in Nash's native British Columbia, "Take off, ya hoser!"
Yet Nash might be on the threshold of pulling off the amazing feat. Heading into Wednesday's big home showdown with the Spurs, the 6-foot-2 dynamo has emerged as a leading candidate for this year's MVP honors. It's not just his 16.2 points (on 51.0 percent shooting) and league-best 11.4 assists per game. It's the way he has almost single-handedly transformed the Suns into big winners.
Duncan said Nash had his vote at the All-Star break. So did Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. Kevin Garnett cited Nash's name first when asked which players were on his list. Bucks coach Terry Porter, Nuggets coach George Karl and even Mavs coach Don Nelson also endorsed Nash as the midseason MVP.
"He's taking a team that didn't make the playoffs a year ago and definitely has made a huge impact on them," Celtics guard Paul Pierce said over All-Star Weekend. "Obviously when he's on the court with them they're pretty much unbeatable. When he's not on the court they're not the same."
For Nash, winning the MVP would truly be remarkable. For one, it's rare for a point guard or a player without huge scoring numbers to get the award. For another, Nash, who was drafted No. 15 overall out of Santa Clara in 1996, would become the lowest-picked player to win it since Moses Malone (who came to the NBA via the ABA expansion draft) in '83. But it's easy to see why he has moved to the top of the list:
• In his first season in Phoenix he has led the Suns to a 46-14 record -- just one game behind the Spurs for the NBA's best mark. Last year the Suns were 29-53. If Phoenix keeps up the pace it would finish 63-29, a 34-game improvement that would be the third-biggest single-season jump in NBA history.
• He leads the NBA with 11.4 assists per game, the highest figure since John Stockton's 12.3 in '94-95. Only three players (Stockton, Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson) have averaged 11 assists in a season since '90-'91.
• He has a chance to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor, 90 percent from the line and 40 percent from 3-point range. According to the NBA, the last player to accomplish the feat was Reggie Miller in '93-94. Only three players -- Miller, Mark Price and Larry Bird -- have done it since the NBA instituted the three-point shot in '79.
For Nash, once known more for dating Elizabeth Hurley than for anything he did on the basketball court, the mere talk of MVP seems surreal. "I don't take it too serious," he says. "If I were lucky enough to get it, I would love it. But I think it would be a tribute to my teammates. They probably deserve more credit. I'm probably getting a little too much credit."
There is still a month left in the regular season -- an eternity by NBA standards -- but Nash appears to have the winning formula favored by MVP voters: a breakout individual season; a lead atop one of the major stat categories (assists); and huge team success. It's even better if the player is a fresh face and viewed as a good guy, which Nash is. Throw in the fact that the Suns are one of the NBA's big surprises, with a fast-paced entertaining style of play, and Nash could be tough to beat if his sore hamstring holds up.
While those who favor LeBron or Shaq or Iverson for MVP argue that Nash doesn't play much defense and that he benefits from playing alongside two fellow All-Stars in Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, Nash's supporters would say it doesn't matter. His job is to make his teammates better and to win games, and in that regard the 31-year-old dervish has done an unparalleled job. Nash orchestrates Phoenix's almost-revolutionary attack like a maestro, pushing the ball constantly and setting up teammates for open looks and easy baskets. It's no coincidence that Stoudemire has seen his field-goal percentage balloon from .475 to .566 this season. "Just look where [Amare] gets the ball," Marion says. "I think he averages like 10 dunks a game. ... That's Steve. He's a great point guard. What he does on the floor for us is unbelievable because he's so unselfish you want to play for him."
Nash does more than set up others too. He has been a high-percentage shooter all season, with the ability to hit big shots in crunch time. He also has been a leader in the locker room, showing up to lift weights at 7 a.m. in the summer and organizing pickup games with teammates. How many other NBA superstars do that -- especially after signing a six-year, $60 million contract?
Nash's value is perhaps most evident by the Suns' 2-4 record this season when he's been out with injury. In fact, his extended absence due to injuries earlier this season might turn out to be a boon for his MVP case, helping reinforce his value in the minds of voters. Most everybody recalls how Phoenix went 31-5 with Nash in its first 36 games (while averaging 110 points per game) and then lost four straight without him (while averaging just 86.3).
Meanwhile, the other top MVP candidates all have drawbacks that could hurt their candidacies. Shaq has made the Heat big winners, but he plays alongside another superstar in Dwyane Wade and he hasn't posted the numbers he did in past seasons. Dirk Nowitzki has kept the Mavs among the league's top teams, but he doesn't lead like Nash. Duncan's numbers are down from his best seasons. Neither Iverson nor Kobe Bryant have been able to make their respective teams winners. LeBron has probably had the best overall season, but the Cavs have slipped lately and his age (20) might work against him with voters who feel he'll have many more chances in the future.
"Nash would get my vote for MVP right now," says one Western Conference scout. "He's a dominant player. He's got some good players around him, but he's the engine. You put any other good point guard in there, and Phoenix might be, say, 32-22 right now. They'd still be good, but not like this. Nash just gives them so much confidence. He's the reason they're an elite team."
Despite such support from NBA insiders, history says Nash remains a longshot to come out on top in the final tally. The media, which votes on the award, tends to go with big-time scorers or bigger players. The last player to win MVP while averaging under 20 points was Wes Unseld (13.8 in '69). Only three true point guards have ever won it (Bob Cousy in '57, Oscar Robertson in '64 and Magic Johnson in '87, '89, '90), and Magic was clearly an exception to the height rule.
But with so many coaches and players supporting Nash's candidacy, he could get a boost. The fact that Nelson would endorse his former point guard over his own player in Nowitzki, for example, says a lot. It also won't hurt that Garnett is having a sub-par year by his standards, Duncan already has won the award twice, and that Shaq might split votes with Wade. It all seems to be coming together for Nash. Unless his sore hamstring flares up or he runs out of gas, the little Canadian with the stringy long hair just might become the most unlikely MVP winner in NBA history.
Breaking the mold
Marty Burns, SI.com
He's short. He's got that long stringy hair that's always in his eyes. He's from Canada.
Suns point guard Steve Nash might not fit the profile of a typical NBA MVP candidate -- a soccer player or local rec league hoopster, maybe -- but a guy who's going to wrestle the Maurice Podoloff Trophy from the likes of Shaq, LeBron James and Tim Duncan? As they might say back in Nash's native British Columbia, "Take off, ya hoser!"
Yet Nash might be on the threshold of pulling off the amazing feat. Heading into Wednesday's big home showdown with the Spurs, the 6-foot-2 dynamo has emerged as a leading candidate for this year's MVP honors. It's not just his 16.2 points (on 51.0 percent shooting) and league-best 11.4 assists per game. It's the way he has almost single-handedly transformed the Suns into big winners.
Duncan said Nash had his vote at the All-Star break. So did Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. Kevin Garnett cited Nash's name first when asked which players were on his list. Bucks coach Terry Porter, Nuggets coach George Karl and even Mavs coach Don Nelson also endorsed Nash as the midseason MVP.
"He's taking a team that didn't make the playoffs a year ago and definitely has made a huge impact on them," Celtics guard Paul Pierce said over All-Star Weekend. "Obviously when he's on the court with them they're pretty much unbeatable. When he's not on the court they're not the same."
For Nash, winning the MVP would truly be remarkable. For one, it's rare for a point guard or a player without huge scoring numbers to get the award. For another, Nash, who was drafted No. 15 overall out of Santa Clara in 1996, would become the lowest-picked player to win it since Moses Malone (who came to the NBA via the ABA expansion draft) in '83. But it's easy to see why he has moved to the top of the list:
• In his first season in Phoenix he has led the Suns to a 46-14 record -- just one game behind the Spurs for the NBA's best mark. Last year the Suns were 29-53. If Phoenix keeps up the pace it would finish 63-29, a 34-game improvement that would be the third-biggest single-season jump in NBA history.
• He leads the NBA with 11.4 assists per game, the highest figure since John Stockton's 12.3 in '94-95. Only three players (Stockton, Magic Johnson, Mark Jackson) have averaged 11 assists in a season since '90-'91.
• He has a chance to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor, 90 percent from the line and 40 percent from 3-point range. According to the NBA, the last player to accomplish the feat was Reggie Miller in '93-94. Only three players -- Miller, Mark Price and Larry Bird -- have done it since the NBA instituted the three-point shot in '79.
For Nash, once known more for dating Elizabeth Hurley than for anything he did on the basketball court, the mere talk of MVP seems surreal. "I don't take it too serious," he says. "If I were lucky enough to get it, I would love it. But I think it would be a tribute to my teammates. They probably deserve more credit. I'm probably getting a little too much credit."
There is still a month left in the regular season -- an eternity by NBA standards -- but Nash appears to have the winning formula favored by MVP voters: a breakout individual season; a lead atop one of the major stat categories (assists); and huge team success. It's even better if the player is a fresh face and viewed as a good guy, which Nash is. Throw in the fact that the Suns are one of the NBA's big surprises, with a fast-paced entertaining style of play, and Nash could be tough to beat if his sore hamstring holds up.
While those who favor LeBron or Shaq or Iverson for MVP argue that Nash doesn't play much defense and that he benefits from playing alongside two fellow All-Stars in Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, Nash's supporters would say it doesn't matter. His job is to make his teammates better and to win games, and in that regard the 31-year-old dervish has done an unparalleled job. Nash orchestrates Phoenix's almost-revolutionary attack like a maestro, pushing the ball constantly and setting up teammates for open looks and easy baskets. It's no coincidence that Stoudemire has seen his field-goal percentage balloon from .475 to .566 this season. "Just look where [Amare] gets the ball," Marion says. "I think he averages like 10 dunks a game. ... That's Steve. He's a great point guard. What he does on the floor for us is unbelievable because he's so unselfish you want to play for him."
Nash does more than set up others too. He has been a high-percentage shooter all season, with the ability to hit big shots in crunch time. He also has been a leader in the locker room, showing up to lift weights at 7 a.m. in the summer and organizing pickup games with teammates. How many other NBA superstars do that -- especially after signing a six-year, $60 million contract?
Nash's value is perhaps most evident by the Suns' 2-4 record this season when he's been out with injury. In fact, his extended absence due to injuries earlier this season might turn out to be a boon for his MVP case, helping reinforce his value in the minds of voters. Most everybody recalls how Phoenix went 31-5 with Nash in its first 36 games (while averaging 110 points per game) and then lost four straight without him (while averaging just 86.3).
Meanwhile, the other top MVP candidates all have drawbacks that could hurt their candidacies. Shaq has made the Heat big winners, but he plays alongside another superstar in Dwyane Wade and he hasn't posted the numbers he did in past seasons. Dirk Nowitzki has kept the Mavs among the league's top teams, but he doesn't lead like Nash. Duncan's numbers are down from his best seasons. Neither Iverson nor Kobe Bryant have been able to make their respective teams winners. LeBron has probably had the best overall season, but the Cavs have slipped lately and his age (20) might work against him with voters who feel he'll have many more chances in the future.
"Nash would get my vote for MVP right now," says one Western Conference scout. "He's a dominant player. He's got some good players around him, but he's the engine. You put any other good point guard in there, and Phoenix might be, say, 32-22 right now. They'd still be good, but not like this. Nash just gives them so much confidence. He's the reason they're an elite team."
Despite such support from NBA insiders, history says Nash remains a longshot to come out on top in the final tally. The media, which votes on the award, tends to go with big-time scorers or bigger players. The last player to win MVP while averaging under 20 points was Wes Unseld (13.8 in '69). Only three true point guards have ever won it (Bob Cousy in '57, Oscar Robertson in '64 and Magic Johnson in '87, '89, '90), and Magic was clearly an exception to the height rule.
But with so many coaches and players supporting Nash's candidacy, he could get a boost. The fact that Nelson would endorse his former point guard over his own player in Nowitzki, for example, says a lot. It also won't hurt that Garnett is having a sub-par year by his standards, Duncan already has won the award twice, and that Shaq might split votes with Wade. It all seems to be coming together for Nash. Unless his sore hamstring flares up or he runs out of gas, the little Canadian with the stringy long hair just might become the most unlikely MVP winner in NBA history.
