There’s an MVP for the regular season and an MVP for the Finals, but none for the rest of the playoffs. And yet it usually is this time of year everyone starts saying who the real MVP should be.
My top five for this year’s regular-season MVP was Steve Nash, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki and Elton Brand.
But it’s a good thing the voting ends after 82 games because the way it has gone in the playoffs, sorry, but Nash doesn’t crack the top five. And no way for the man who did win the 2006 award, Chauncey Billups. It seemed to me he got MVP mention because everyone was looking for a way to reward the Pistons, but he might not be top 50 the way he played against the Cavs.
So here’s my MVP vote if it were done now:
1. Tim Duncan: In leading the Spurs back from a 3-1 deficit against the Mavs, he is probably playing the best he’s ever played in the playoffs. He’s averaging 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.5 blocks and shooting 57 percent.
2. LeBron James: His scoring numbers vs. the Pistons were down, though still over 31 per game for the playoffs. But he carried by far the weakest team left to the brink of the conference finals against the pre-playoff favorite.
3. Elton Brand: OK, let’s say it finally. Trading him for Tyson Chandler was the worst trade in the history of Chicago sports. Brand is the next Karl Malone and he’s going to be in the Hall of Fame.
4. Dirk Nowitzki: He remains the matchup nightmare of the league. Nowitzki is trying to drag his team to the Finals averaging 25.5 points and 13 rebounds on 52 percent shooting against a relentless Spurs defense that has tried everyone against him.
5. Kobe Bryant (tie): He shoots too much. He doesn’t shoot enough. No one gets scrutinized more. His Game 7 performance with three second-half shots as the Lakers were blown out by the Suns became a national sports debate. This time he did what the coach asked and tried to win the team way and was blamed. In the end, the guy carried a weak team to the seventh game.
5. Dwyane Wade (tie): If not for him, the Heat would be long home and the Bulls would be awaiting the conference finals. Then he went to New Jersey and easily outplayed the three All-Stars, averaging 27.6 points, six rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.4 steals as the Heat’s closer.
SAM’S GAME OF THE WEEK
Take your pick on Monday: Spurs-Mavs (7 p.m. TNT) or Clippers-Suns (9:30 TNT) in Game 7s.
I go for Spurs-Mavs in one of the best-ever nights for the NBA. They’re rivals from the same neighborhood and they play each other all the time. This series has been reminiscent of the battles between the Bulls and Pat Riley’s Knicks, old Bulls-Pistons games or the Pistons-Celtics.
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SAM’S QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“I couldn’t catch that. My Spanish is more overrated than my game.”
Steve Nash after being asked a question in Spanish.