dirk the jerk

Dirk the Jerk got the NBA's MVP this year, but not by much. He shouldn't have won it to begin with, since Nash won it the last two years in a row and posted even better numbers this year. The top two finishers were the only ones close in the race. Here's what the voting looked like:

Player, Team; 1st; 2nd; 3rd; 4th; 5th; Pts
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas; 83; 39; 7; -; -; 1138
Steve Nash, Phoenix; 44; 74; 11; -; -; 1013

Dirk isn't even in the running anymore, after an incredible first series loss to the 8th seed Golden State Warriors, who the Jazz are now leading 3 - 1 in their conference semi-finals. The Mavericks might have beaten the Warriors and knocked them out of the playoffs entirely if they hadn't sat down their stars, but I doubt they could have beaten them anyway, since the Mavs had lost all 3 of their other regular season meetings, as well. The Suns, on the other hand, did not have one team that defeated them every time they played. The Suns were even able to beat the #1 Mavs twice in a row at the end of the season, and the second time was a blowout! Nash should have won this award for the third time straight, but the voters were blind to how the Suns benefit more from Nash than the Mavs from Dirk. GO NASH! GO SUNS!