Chris Sheridan's words from ESPN.com on this:
Award front-runnersposted: Sunday, March 4, 2007 | Print Entry
filed under: Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kapono, Brandon Roy, David Lee
A year ago at this time I was making a case that Tony Parker deserved serious consideration for the MVP award, which may have been a bit of a stretch, but not a huge one at the time.
Fast forward to today, Sunday, March 4, and there is no reason to look for a worthy alternative, as I did a year ago.
As of now, Dirk Nowitzki is the NBA's Most Valuable Player, hands down.
Steve Nash was his equal a month ago, but Nowitzki has separated himself from his old best buddy as the Dallas Mavericks have strung together a team-record 15 consecutive wins. Nowitzki has scored 30 or more points in 12 of the past 27 games, shooting a shade under 52 percent over that span, and the Mavs have gone 16-0 when he has reached 30. Nowitzki also has already eclipsed last year's total of 35 double-doubles, notching 36 and barely missing a 37th as he had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists Saturday night vs. Orlando.
A few more stats: Nowitzki is shooting a career-high 50.4 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from 3-point range after posting career-best percentages in both those categories a year ago, when he finished third in MVP voting for the second consecutive year. Also, Nowitzki is shooting an astounding 53 percent in the second night of back-to-back games, leading the Mavs to an 11-0 record in such games.
With all that being said, there are still six weeks left in the regular season, and we're not handing this thing to Nowitzki just yet.
A strong case can still be made for Nash, beginning with a look at the Phoenix Suns' record without him: 2-4.
Nash, the two-time defending MVP, is averaging career highs in both points and assists, and this is the sixth consecutive season -- yes, sixth -- that Nash's team has led the NBA in scoring. He is seeking to become the first player since John Stockton in 1995-96 to average at least 11 assists at the age of 32, and his shooting percentage is an unfathomable 53.6 percent.
In other words, Nash is having an ever better season than he had the past two years when he took home the hardware, which makes it even tougher to bypass him in favor of Nowitzki.
But the Mavs' 50-9 record trumps all other arguments ... at least for now.
Nash still has a chance to overtake Nowitzki, but it's going to take more than a few losses by Dallas to even things out.
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