As expected, Dirk Nowitzki won the NBA’s MVP award today.
In case you forgot the resume in light of Dallas’ playoff exit, Dirk averaged 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds on the season, and had 19 games of at least 30 points while leading the Mavs to a league-best 67-15 record. Long story short, he was the best player on the NBA’s best team in the regular season.
Dirk got 83 out of 129 first-place votes and beat second-place finisher Steve Nash by 125 points. Nash got 44 first-place votes. Kobe finished third (2 first-place votes), followed by Tim Duncan, LeBron and T-Mac. Other vote-getters included Chris Bosh, Gilbert Arenas, KG, Carlos Boozer, Chauncey Billups, D-Wade, Shaq, Amare, Carmelo, Baron Davis and Tony Parker.
We took an quick office poll this morning, one vote per person, and it broke down like this:
Dirk — 3 votes
Nash — 3 votes
LeBron — 1 vote
T-Mac — 1 vote
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May 15th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
dagwaller says:
That’s probably how the office in my head would’ve voted, although I would’ve put Kobe in instead of Lebron. And I would’ve added one vote for T-Mac.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Bron says:
like i said before, he wasn’t even the best player on his team. It was josh howard. dirk was only the best “scorer” on the mavs…Hes like brady quinn…good for puttin up numbers against navy and bum teams but won’t win you anything. When its clutch time, whose guardin the best player…josh howard..who is most likely to make the game saving block…josh howard…The mavs even have a better record when josh scores 20+ than when dirk scores 30. Not to mention dirk was completely unreliable in the crunch. stackhouse had a better chance of savin the game. But like i said 3 articles ago, at least he’ll have plenty of time to enjoy his trophy at home on the couch while watchin the playoffs.
May 15th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Dank says:
lol Bron got it right. OHHH NO DIRK HAD 19 GAMES OUT 82 WITH 30 OR MORE POINTS. impressive. its not like Kobe averaged 30 the whole effin season. and somehow his team made the playoffs, when they shoulda gone loterry. ooh dirk so impressive. did anyone else see cuban cry? HILARIOUS. Mr. cuban, i wish u cancer soon. peace
May 15th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
dagwaller says:
Scoring title + playoffs = MVP? Wow. Let’s go back and change some of the MVPs! Why didn’t they think of that simple formula before? That would’ve made things a lot easier on the poor voters who don’t know anything!
Josh Howard is like a young Angela Lansbury: way nice, and only getting nicer. That having been said, he was a borderline All-Star and didn’t make any all-NBA teams. I guess we should judge MVP, maybe, as who guards the best player in the clutch? Or maybe who makes the shots when they count?
So you two would’ve picked Kobe, Bruce Bowen, and Chauncey Billups over Dirk (and Howard too, you’d have to admit, since he didn’t lead the league in scoring, isn’t as good a defender as BB, nor does he hit clutch shots like Chauncey). Good suggestions, guys. I’m sure the papers will be in touch with you soon to give you a vote.
May 16th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Bron says:
Lol being that I work for the nets I already have input but thanks. And thats not what I meant either. What I was saing was, MVP is most valuable player, howard was more valuable to the team than dirk. without dirk their still a playoff team. So if losing him doesn’t make a huge difference (just like when nash left the mavs) then he obviously isn’t the most valuable player on the team. Plus hes DEF not the most valuable if hes a flop in the clutch when his team needs him. get your facts straight if your gonna miss quote people.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:38 am
bhonjaze says:
i guess it all boils down too on how the guy played his heart out to get his team goin in the playoffs. the playoffs in the NBA is like the hammer of the locksmith that gives a piece of metal its form. how did dirk go during the playoffs this year? well, he hardly was instrumental. the Mavs getting dumped by a relatively un-thought Warriors team can also add up to his resume this year. Even Josh Howard was barely visible down the clutch, or when his team needed his luster during their series with the Warriors. i believe they should have thought about it a lot more before finally giving it to Dirk, not merely basing it on fan votes and all. the MVP of the league should have been seen as the one player who carried his team and himself well through the entirety of the season, and capping it all up with a good run in the playoffs or much less a championship. easy bets could have been Lebron or Stevie Nash (again), or even Kobe for his surreal mini scoring romp this year. not that i have anything against Dirk and the Mavs, but what i think is they could have done better and proven themselves.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:53 am
dagwaller says:
I didn’t quote anyone, so it would be hard for me to misquote them, wouldn’t it?
Speaking of facts, Dirk led that team in rebounds (defensive statistic?), minutes played (heart?), ft% (helpful in the clutch?) and scoring (hard to sink game winning shots when you’re not close to the other team - helps when you have a 7 footer averaging almost 6 points more than the “real MVP of your team”. Maybe Stackhouse or Howard have a 6 point shot we don’t know about, though). Not to mention Howard, the defensive stopper you’re talking about, is averaging the same amount of blocks as Dirk. Granted, Dirk is 7 feet tall, but you can’t really say that he’s that far behind Howard if they have similar stats.
You make good points, but obviously YOU haven’t really taken much of a look at the stats, nor have you watched enough of the Mavs to understand how far Dirk has come this year. I think you guys made the best points for me when you were busting on him during the Warriors series: yea, he faded in that series, but without him, the Mavs almost got swept by the 8th seed (which would put them behind the 8th seed - not in the playoffs, fyi).
May 16th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Bron says:
first off, like i said before, I work for the nets so me seeing dirk up close would count for watching enough games. shooting a supposdly high ft% doesn’t really matter when a) you dont take any shots in the 4th or b) you miss your shots in the fourth. You could shoot 99% through 3 quarters and still not be clutch. Minutes played has NOTHING to do with heart lol But if were just naming stuff then dirk easily falls off the map for mental toughness. And like i said, dirk is a scorer. so him averaging 6 more points than josh (who was 1 pick away from bein a second rounder) doesn’t really mean much. and should your “Star” player really be averaging the same amount of blocks as a role player who is shorter than him, specially when hes guarding the weaker players while howard guards the other teams main threat? Plus take in mind, blocks when they count. how many of dirks blocks come at the end of games, or steals that really change the game in the fourth quarter. Plain and simple, when its all on dirks shoulders, the team usually fails. So how is he MVP. MVP has to carry his team, when the mavs suck and cant get a bucket, its dirks job to score 60 and put them over the top..he doesn’t do that. Tmac does, wade does, kobe does, even no jump shot lebron does..Thats what makes you the team leader, when you can step up and carry them. if not, your a role player playing the role of scorer