SteveSilver.net

MVP Outrage!

With this year’s basketball playoffs so far notable for being the most boring in memory, NBA pundits have had to work extra-hard to find stories. And they’ve finally got one, in the news last weekend that the Suns’ Steve Nash has won the league MVP award, beating out Shaquille O’Neal.

Considering that some thought Nash was undeserving (in that he isn’t as dominant, and can’t play defense), those in the pro-Shaq camp were outraged. And since Nash is the first white NBA MVP since Larry Bird retired, it was only a matter of time before it became a racial issue, adding another week to the story’s life.

Miami Herald hack Dan “The Bastard” LeBatard did the honors first in regards to the racial angle, leading to denunciations from Charles Barkley and others on television. Jason Whitlock, not surprisingly, visited the issue today, and I can only imagine what Stephen A. thinks about it. Then, on Bill Simmons’ ESPN.com chat yesterday, one participant asked what the late Ralph Wiley would have thought about the situation, and another predicted that “5 years down the road people will regret this decision they made for Nash [as] MVP.”

I just have one question about this: who the hell cares who the league MVP is? Who wins the award has no bearing on anything whatsoever, and is completely meaningless except as an arbitrary measurement of the opinion of a bunch of sportswriters. Much like semiannual hubbub over “all-star snubs,” this stupid non-issue should never, EVER be more than a one-day story.

They’ll regret it in five years? Please, they won’t even remember it in five weeks. Real quick- name last year’s MVPs in the NBA, NFL, and AL and NL.

It bothers me that, with the playoffs in full swing, people are reduced to arguing about something so meaningless. Who wins the MVP matters about one percent as much as the NBA Finals do- simply because that’s decided ON THE COURT. In fact, I’d even argue that the regular-season MVP award is less important than the NBA Finals MVP.

Speaking of the Finals, at this point I’m almost rooting for Miami and Phoenix to NOT play each other, just because I’m so sick of hearing about this.

Posted by Stephen Silver at May 12, 2005 09:08 PM