An MVP should be a dominant player that is the driving force of his team’s greatness. An MVP should be able to enforce his skills against even the most skilled of opponents.

An MVP shouldn’t just be a player who plays at a high level, but one who has his team play at a high level because of him.

An MVP should only play for a team that has matched or exceeded expectations as MVP’s don’t disappoint.

MVP’s should be able to dominate weaker teams because of their presence, and should be able to beat elite teams because of their tremendously talented and clutch play in close games.

Numbers should not matter in determining an MVP. Players are great on basketball courts, not stat sheets.

The Spurs and Tim Duncan have not played inspired ball for a month and a half and only Manu Ginobli is playing anywhere close to MVP level.

Dwight Howard is still too limited offensively and very immature defensively. Dirk is little more than a jumper shooter whose tricked voters into giving him the award last year.

The Cavs haven’t won enough for LeBron to be mentioned, and with Andrew Bynum out, neither has Kobe’s. Baron Davis is too erratic.

The Celtics “big three” have been so good that none of their players have needed to play at MVP levels—as paradoxically as that sounds.

Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Brandon Roy all are exceptional but don’t quite have the talent or the impact of my pick for MVP.

And that’s because my pick for MVP is Steve Nash.

Despite his teammates’ bickering, Nash continues to get the most out of the Suns every single night and terrorizes opponents with his creative brilliance.

Nash sees the court better than anybody since John Stockton, can make any pass at anytime, is a very crafty finisher, has a lethal jumper, always puts his teammates in the best position to succeed, and only looks to score to keep defenses honest, though he’s a nearly unstoppable scorer when he wants to be.

Plus, the entire Phoenix offense thrives on Nash.

Shawn Marion is okay at creating his own shot, but every other player on the roster is a gunner, or a cutter that becomes virtually useless when Nash is on the Phoenix bench.

For sure, Nash is an awful individual defender—not by lack of effort, but because he’s a step slow laterally, and because he’s incredibly frail. However, Nash’ help defense never gets the credit it deserves.

Nash is virtually indefensible, incredibly clutch, and most importantly, he’s built the careers of nearly everyone on the Suns.

He’s a great player who begets other great players.

Sounds like the characteristics of an MVP.

Dave Metrick

Kobe for MVP

For the past three seasons, Kobe Bryant has been widely regarded as the best player in the NBA.  But the MVP award isn’t given to the best player in the NBA.

If it were, Mr. Bryant would probably spend his free time polishing the three trophies he’d already been awarded.

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