Let's go back two-and-a-half years to April 2007.
To the objection of many (myself included), Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki appeared to be a mortal lock to win the MVP award.
(Steve Nash had the better season, and actually deserved the award more than he did in the previous two seasons that he had actually won it, but back to the relevant story.)
That season, Dirk averaged 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
While these are stellar numbers, Nowitzki had better numbers during each of the two seasons prior.
Nowitzki essentially won the award by default, as he was the best player on the best team.
The Mavericks had just finished the regular season 67-15 as they headed into a first-round playoff series with the Golden State Warriors.
Shockingly, the 67-win Mavs came out and were baffled by the high-energy Warriors, and lost the series decisively in six games.
Dirk's numbers for the series: 19.7 points, 11.3 rebounds per game.
After that series ended, Nowitzki was awkwardly named the NBA's MVP, after having been jettisoned from the playoffs in embarrassing fashion.
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Taylor Smith
Dirk Nowitzki: From MVP To Under-the-Radar Superstar
November 19th, 2009 by Taylor Smith Leave a reply »
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