Larry Bird remains the only player in NBA history to have won the Most Valuable Player award three years in a row. But once upon a time, a floppy-haired Canadian man that looked more at home in a surf shop than on a basketball court came very, very close to achieving the same thing.
For once, we’re going to be discussing Steve Nash and the MVP award without mentioning Kobe Bryant and 2006. Because in 2007, Dirk Nowitzki took home a trophy that should’ve rightfully been Nash’s.
We all love Dirk, and we should. He was a generational talent and paved the way for both Europeans and a new age of big man basketball. But for as much as we love him, there’s one award he shouldn’t have won. When we break down Steve Nash’s MVP case in 2007, it’s stronger than most people remember. And in hindsight, it becomes very difficult to argue that Nowitzki deserved that MVP over Nash.
The Individual Seasons
With all due respect to Dirk, he just didn’t have a very MVP-like statistical season. Nowitzki averaged 24.6 PPG, 8.6 REB, 3.4 AST, and 0.8 BLKS in 36.2 minutes a night in 78 total games. Meanwhile, Nash averaged 18.6 PPG, 3.5 REB, 11.6 AST, and 0.8 STL in 35.2 minutes per game in 76 total games. Only three other players in NBA history have replicated Nash’s stat line throughout a season before, while Nowitzki’s numbers have happened in 34 other NBA seasons. Which one sounds more impressive to you? (Hint: Nash).
In terms of which player was more “valuable” to his team, it’s an absolute crapshoot. The Phoenix Suns were an extraordinarily complicated piece of work, the Millenium Falcon of the basketball galaxy. Nash was the only human alive capable of piloting that incredibly potent machine, with an unprecedented medley of shooting and vision. No player at the time could’ve run that offense as efficiently as Nash did, and that’s unmistakable.
The same does not hold true for Dirk Nowitzki, however. The Mavericks’ offense was ninth in the league, but it was their defense at fourth that did a lot of the heavy lifting. Nowitzki carried the load on offense, and without him, the Mavericks would’ve been in big trouble. But if you had replaced Dirk with Kevin Garnett or Tim Duncan at the beginning of the season, would Dallas have really been any worse off? Switch Nash out for Jason Kidd, however, and that Suns team would not have functioned nearly as well. There was no other player like Steve Nash around in the NBA at the time, and nobody could have ran that Seven Seconds Or Less offense better.
Yes, the Suns were tailor-made for Nash. And it’s probably true that Nash wouldn’t have been as successful on a different team. But there’s nothing wrong with playing to your strengths, and Phoenix did just that. Being a “system player” shouldn’t hold a negative stigma when the system doesn’t work without him.
The point is, Nash was the one in seven billion that could handle that offense. Dirk wasn’t expendable by any means but he wasn’t as valuable to Dallas as Nash was to Phoenix.
The Efficiency Argument
At this point, somebody’s probably going to mention Nowitzki’s efficiency and that famed “50/40/90” argument. Dirk achieved something very special that season, as the only big man in that seven-player club that has shot 50% from the field, 40% from three, and 90% from the free-throw line. In 2007, Nowitzki shot 50.2% from the field, 41.6% from three, and 90.4% from the line. Typically regarded by many fans as the gold standard for efficiency, it’s rightfully one of Dirk’s crowning achievements. Joining this club firmly established Dirk as the best shooting big of all time, and he should be very proud of his membership
Too bad Nash virtually owns that oh-so exclusive club, however. Nash is the only player to have a 50/40/90 season four times, twice more than the second-place Larry Bird with two. Nash literally missed that mark by .01% in ’07, averaging 52.3% from the field, 45.5% from three, and 89.9% from the line. If we’re going to talk efficiency, let’s talk about how Steve Kerr in 1995 is the only player to post higher percentages than Nash did in 2007.
Adding on to that, Nowitzki only shot 72 threes the whole season. Credit due for being a pioneer and all, but that volume doesn’t even qualify Nowitzki for the three-point leaderboard today. What’s more, Nowitzki doesn’t even beat out Nash in True Shooting Percentage, despite being a big man!
Dirk’s shooting was monumental that season, and deserves every ounce of respect. But to say they were more impressive than Nash’s is laughable. Again, Steve Kerr is the only player to have equaled Nash’s percentages before, and Kerr shot just six shots a game. For comparison, Nash took around 12.8 shots a game, on far more difficult looks.
Wrapping Up
Nowitzki and his Mavericks won a startling 67 games, the season after a disappointing Finals loss to Miami. It was the best record the league had seen in eight years, and it was nothing to laugh at. However, winning six more games than another player shouldn’t be a major piece in an MVP argument. Nash and the Suns also broke the 60-win barrier, finishing 61-21, second in the league. To say Nowitzki deserved the MVP mainly because he won six more games is foolish at best.
In retrospect, you can’t really piece together a convincing argument for why Dirk deserved the MVP over Nash. We all know the real reason why Steve Nash didn’t win the 2007 MVP anyways. Nash had already won two hotly-contested ones, and whether or not he deserves those a debate to this day. After the already extremely controversial win over Kobe Bryant in 2006, it would’ve been just too weird. Add that to the fact that Nash still hadn’t even made the Finals yet, and it was just too unlikely. Ironically, the two MVP’s that he maybe shouldn’t have won resulted in Nash losing out on the one he truly did deserve.
This article wasn’t meant to criticize Nowitzki in any way or detract from his legacy. The 2006-07 season might even be a blemish on Dirk’s career anyway. Nowitzki and the Mavs collapsed spectacularly in the first round vs. the Warriors. This wasn’t a season Mavs fans want to remember. 2011 was Dirk’s defining career accomplishment when he took down the Miami Heat’s Big 3. This MVP is an awkward one, as the NBA held the ceremony just one week after the Warriors upset the Mavs in the first round.
Dirk Nowitzki has had a fantastic career in the NBA so far and will retire as an all-time legend. With all due respect, however, he shouldn’t have won that 2007 MVP award over Steve Nash.
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