Will Nash ever win MVP again?

The image above was received from nba.com, http://www.nba.com/playerfile/steve_nash/career_stats.html

The two highlighted individuals in the MVP race this year, is Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. What a shocker...right? But the player I've been waiting to see the MVP is none other then the number three in the race--Steve Nash. Frank Hughes of nba.com correctly mentions in one of his articles;

"We realize that the only way Nash is going to win the MVP is if Kobe and LeBron wreck into one another in their next game and are injured indefinitely. Having said that, Nash is playing breathtaking basketball. He is now shooting a career-high 54.3 percent from the field while averaging a career-high 18.9 points. If the guy could play above the rim, he'd be right there with the top two"

And it's the unfortunate truth for Nash, however I think it's time that we recognize one of the greatest court-awareness players to have ever played the point guard position with another MVP award because he still is the most valuable asset to a team.

The Santa Clara native averaged a double-double in points and assists in five of the past 6 years (and the year he didn't average a double-double--he was off by .3 assists per game). Not to mention, he's always been one of the best shooters in the league, averaging more than 50% field goal percentage also in the past six years.

He's the best free throw shooter in the league, year after year, and he is one of the most consistent three point shooters in the game.

His numbers speak volumes but it is incomparable to James' 28.7 points,7.1 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game. Yet Nash's 18.9 points and 11.3 assists per game shows what a true point guard he is. Nash is not the most athletic (which you may be able to argue for LeBron) but he is definitely just as fun to watch.

Nash might not be a high-flyer or a dominant one-on-one player, but he is what every coach wants--a court general. Obviously Nash's credibility as a serious MVP candidate diminishes when we see where his team is in playoff race (4th in the West), however there definitely is a sense of Nash's extreme significance to the team.

No one else in the Suns average more than 2.3 assists per game, which shows that there really is only one person who controls the team. In the case of LeBron, he has another player who distributes a sufficient amount--Mo Williams. And if you compare Nash's contribution to other players to Kobe, well three players average just around one assist less than him.

Of course the game has evolved to a point where the most dominant player is glorified with the MVP title. Is that what the game truly is about though? Basketball, like many other sports such as baseball, football, hockey, etc., is a team sport--and to me, the player who is most valuable is the player who is most about the team.

It might not seem like a solid argument to say that the MVP should be given to Nash because of his amazing passing ability (especially because Bryant and James are good passers themselves) but there's a difference between players that are asked to take over the game and players who create the game for their teammates.

Bryant and James might create a platform for other players, but when it comes to the fourth quarter--it's predictable as to who is getting the ball. With players like Nash, he's just as big of a weapon off the pass as he is on his tilted running three-pointer.

The MVP will not go to Nash unless James and Bryant perform horrendously for the next few months, but can we please acknowledge one of the greatest point guards in the game?