NBA Midseason MVP

Since Nash and the Phoenix Suns played (and whooped) Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards, I thought it would be appropriate to hand out the Midseason Award for MVP. Right now, I only see three players in the mix: Steve Nash, Gilbert Arenas, and Dirk Nowitzki. Here's the pros and cons of all three:

Steve Nash: His team has been nasty since their 1-5 start. Playing better than last year according to everyone. He's making 54% of his FG attempts AND he's scoring more (19.5 PPG over 15.5 from his first MVP season) despite Amare being back. He's got more assists than ever at 11.6 APG. And he's shooting 49.8% from 3pt land despite shooting more threes than ever (5.2 a game making 2.6). Those are some Insane numbers. Also, Nash's game over Arenas (27 PPG and 14APG) was AMAZING. He missed only 2 shots and was effective, efficient, and a true leader/point guard. As Bill Simmons has said, Nash is playing angry and looks like he will take over games scoring wise sometimes. Nash's only problem is that he has won the last two MVP awards and voter's might be hesitant to give him three in a row as that has only been done with the cream of the cream of the crop (Wilt, Bill Russel, and Bird. yes... not even MJ, both of them).

Dirk Nowitzki: His Mavs have been on fire since their 0-4 start. His numbers aren't great and it has been said that the emergence of Josh Howard is a possible reason (though I look at his numbers and don't see a huge difference). Dirk is VERY efficient this year as he has posted a 50% FG percentage and a 42% 3PT percentage, and a 90% FT percentage. Also, as Greg Anthony has noted, Dirk plays like a 7-footer this year. His 3pt attempts are way down and he's down near the basket more. This won't necessarily help out his number but I think this is a big reason for the Mavericks' sick record.

Gilbert Arenas: He has a new nickname (Agent Zero) and a new calling card (Hibachi!). He's putting up a great stat line 29 PPG, 6 APG, and 4 RPG. He's also made some HUGE shots and with flair. He has hit multiple 3pts to win games and if you watch the tapes, he KNOWS those shots are going in. I for one have really enjoyed his performances. His team is on pace for a 49-win season which is good enough for a first or second seed in the East, however it IS the East.

I think that voters will put aside the fact that only 3 players have enjoyed the MVP 3 times in a row and will make Steve Nash the 4th player due to his numbers, his leadership, and his team's performance.

(HerseyChris's input)
I'd put Kobe 2 behind Nash, and then Dirk, with Arenas 4th. Kobe is averaging 28.3 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. True these numbers aren't as good as last year, where he averaged an amazing 35 points per game. His shooting percentage this year is roughly the same, except he is shooting 2% better in overall FG. Also he was hampered early by injury, and has become more and more explosive as time has gone on. Most impressive of all is that Kobe is getting his teammates involved, no matter how little talent they have, and with Lamar Odom sidelined for over a month, Kobe still has the Lakers in position to win be second in the division after Phoenix. Lets face it the Lakers are 50% Kobe, 30% Odom, 10% Phil Jackson, and 10% the rest of the team. So Kobe can get most, if not all, of the credit for carrying this Lakers franchise. Guys like Luke Walton, Vlad Radmanovic, Brian Cook, Andrew Bynum, Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm, Maurice Evans, and Jordan Farmar are not great complementary players, but if one of these guys is your 3rd best player (in this case with Odom out 2nd best) then you're probably not going to make the playoffs. And yet Kobe has carried this team to a sure playoff spot. Perhaps whats best about Kobe is his uncanny resemblance to MJ, selfish in the beginning with awesome dunking ability, then able to feed his teammates and shoot a pretty J. His intensity on both ends of the court is rivalled only by MJ (and if we're going by other sports Tiger). Kobe won't get the award though because Nash's team is unstoppable. Nash has improved even more this past year, and if Kobe didn't get it last year with his amazing scoring, then he surely won't get it this year either.