NBA MVP: Steve Nash

[TheManeMan]

Report: Nash wins NBA MVP over O'Neal

May 6, 2005
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash will be named NBA Most Valuable Player over Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal, according to a published report.

ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources familiar with the voting, reported Friday that Nash had edged O'Neal in the voting to become just the second point guard in 40 years to win the prestigious award

An earlier report on the Arizona Republic website said the newspaper had polled 106 of the 127 media members who vote on the award and had determined that Nash received 53 first-place votes and 895 points to O'Neal's 51 and 883.

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The newspaper's poll did not determine the overall winner but indicated Nash could be the MVP, based on the NBA's schedule for presenting the award over the last five years. The winner will be officially announced Sunday afternoon, when the Suns are idle.

Nash, 31, signed as a free agent with the Suns last summer and quarterbacked a 33-win improvement, one of the best in NBA history. Phoenix went from a 29-53 mark and the draft lottery to a 62-20 record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The driving force was Nash, who piloted the Suns' relentless up-tempo attack with a league-leading 11.5 assists per game. He also averaged 15.5 points and was one of just three guards to shoot better than 50 percent.

The 6-3 Nash joins 6-9 Magic Johnson as the only point guards to win MVP awards since 6-5 Oscar Robertson won for Cincinnati in 1964. Nash also is among the shortest MVPs in history, joining 6-1 Bob Cousy and 6-foot Allen Iverson.

Nash's scoring average is the lowest for an MVP since Bill Walton won with Portland in 1978. He joined Charles Barkley (1993) as the only Suns to win the award.

It is another snub for O'Neal, one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history who has won just one MVP award. He is a three-time NBA Finals MVP.

O'Neal, 33, also was responsible for remarkable improvement with a new team. He was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers last summer to the Miami Heat, who improved 17 games to 59-23. Without O'Neal, the Lakers stumbled from 56-26 last season to 34-48 and the draft lottery.

Perhaps a victim of his immense size, the 7-1, 330-pound O'Neal averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds. He was the only player to make better than 60 percent of his shots.

The Republic reported that Suns center Amare Stoudemire and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan also received first-place votes.




I'm glad Nash got it over Shaq's fat ass...Nash is way MORE deserving of the award...GO SUNS!!!!