Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal may be the best players to ever play their position, but when it comes to MVPs, they are sorely lacking.
In fact, Steve Nash (who many ranks lower than both Bryant and O’Neal) has as much as both of them combined. On that note, the former L.A. big man shared his thoughts.
“He got two, I got one, Kobe got one. Something’s wrong with that picture.”
Nash’s MVP wins are some of the most controversial in NBA history. He won the award in back-to-back years from 2005-2006. It should be noted that Shaq was the runner up the first time while Kobe was 4th on the list the very next season. In 2005, he averaged 15.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while Shaq averaged 22.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. In 2006, Nash 18 points and 10.5 assists. Kobe? He finished the season with averages of 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game.
They were certainly in the race, but does it mean Nash was undeserving? While his stats are some of the lowest among other MVP winners, his team (the Suns) were on an insanely dominant stretch at the time. As the driving force behind their success, it seems he was rewarded for his team’s inspiring play.
Still, whether or not he deserved both (or even one) of the awards is a topic that will always be up for debate. If you ask Shaq (and plenty of others in the NBA community) they’ll tell you it should have gone to one of the two Laker stars instead.
