Beyond the MVP
By Dhruva Jaishankar – The Mac Weekly

As a relatively unpredictable NBA season winds to a close, the pundits have cautiously begun making their picks for MVP. This year, a legit case can be made for six or seven individuals, and it all depends on whether one bases one’s decision on their numbers, their entertainment values or their abilities to take over a game. Which makes one question what the MVP really means.

I suspect that many voters make their decisions with future generations partly in mind, the subconscious rationale being that when a future sports dork scans the roster of past MVPs he (or she) sees a hallowed list of the all-time basketball greats. Recently the trend has been to spread the wealth a bit more.

Of the 25 MVP winners of all time, seven have won that distinction in the last 10 years. But I think there should be a way by which every viable candidate for MVP is rewarded in a given year, which is why I think this year the NBA should institute a number of awards. Here are some humble suggestions:

MVBLSP (Most Valuable But Least Selfish Player): Phoenix’s Steve Nash. Hands down. The Canadian averages a league-leading 11.5 assists. Brevin Knight is second with 8.9. The Suns currently sit first in the Western Conference. When Stephon Marbury was their point guard the best they finished was eighth in 2002-03. Marbury was their leading scorer that year. Nash is their fourth this year. Need I say more?

MVWG (Most Valuable White Guy): Ditto. Pundits have, rather unfairly, said that the only reason Nash is an MVP candidate is because he’s white. The unsaid, but underlying, assumption is that white men can’t usually jump. So I say we reward those that do so best. Dirk Nowitzki gets an honorable mention.

MVPMT (Most Valuable Player on a Mediocre Team): Tie. Allen Iverson and LeBron James. Both have had great years. But both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers love making life difficult for themselves and are only just making the playoffs.

MCMVPC (Most Consistent ‘Most Valuable Player’ Candidate): Tim Duncan. He’s the key player on a team that strolls to 60 wins a year. If any other team did that in a slightly unexpected fashion (Minnesota last year, Phoenix this year), their top player would be an MVP contender. As it is, the pundits have gotten so used to the Spurs’ dominance that Duncan will probably be overlooked this year.

TMVPST (Two Most Valuable Players on the Same Team): For years this would have gone to Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. This year the dynamic duo is O’Neal and Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat. Like it or not, Shaq’s the most dominating player in the league and Wade has risen wonderfully to the opportunity of playing second fiddle to him, making himself an MVP candidate in the process.

MVIPP (Most Valuable Injury-Plagued Player): Jermaine O’Neal. Dealt with suspension and recurring injury, but when he was in he averaged over 24 points and nine boards.

Wouldn’t it have been great if the NBA had instituted such awards years ago. Think of the players who would have been immortalized in the roster of award winners: John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, Dominique Wilkins. Jordan could have been MCMVPC the years Karl Malone won the MVP. Malone and John Stockton would have monopolized the TMVPST award in their heyday. Grant Hill could have picked up a few MVIPPs. And while we’re on the subject, Bill Walton gets my vote for MVPWSSU (Most Valuable Player Who Should Shut Up).

Unfortunately, the chances of the NBA instituting these honors is slim (although I hope the Peabody or Pulitzer committees get their act together and institute the MVPWSSU soon). I'd have to go with Nash for this year's MVP honor. He may be white and he may be a point guard, but I think ESPN's Marc Stein said it best: the last time a team went from a year with 50 losses to a year with 60 wins was when the Boston Celtics drafted some guy named Bird out of Indiana State (what the? Another unselfish white guy!). With all due respect to the other candidates mentioned above, I would follow Nash with Dwayne Wade, Shaq, LeBron and Gilbert Arenas on my hypothetical MVP ballot. In that order. Perhaps this only reveals my bias for the guards, but face it: these are the guys who've carried their teams to the most surprising finishes this season. They've worked hard all year and found perfect fits with their colleagues and coaching staffs. And most of all they've helped out those around them. Keep the Nowitzki nickels, Iverson quarters and Duncan half-dollars. In any bundle of change I always value the dimes the most.