Anti-War Steve Nash Wins Basketball's Most Valuable Player Award

[Itsthetruth]

CounterPunch
May 10, 2005

Steve Nash's Brilliant Year
Anti-War Hoopster Wins NBA's MVP
By DAVE ZIRIN

First and foremost, Steve Nash deserved this award. He averaged a league leading 11.5 assists a game and shot 50% but that doesn't even begin to explain his value to the Phoenix Suns. Comprehending Nash's season with stats alone is like judging the merit of a deep-dish sausage pizza by its calorie content: it's just more complicated than that. Beyond statistics, the six-foot tall Canadian point guard led the Suns to one of the great turnarounds in NBA history. After signing as a free agent from the Dallas Mavericks, Nash grabbed the Suns and yanked them from a terrible 29 wins to an NBA-leading 62. He took a horrible squad and made it a great one with an Energizer Bunny style of play that led Phoenix to score more points than any NBA team in a decade: over 110 points per game. Nash's "most valuability" was perhaps most clearly demonstrated during one five game stretch when Nash was injured. Without him, the Suns limped through five straight losses scoring just 97 points per contest. NASH'S play seems inspired by his first athletic love, soccer, and not coincidentally, Nash showed the world that basketball could also be "the beautiful game."

Nash barely won the MVP, edging out Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal in a squeaker. His victory shocked some observers because it's Shaq who fits in with the NBA's marketing strategy of pushing forward individual superstars at the expense of team play. Nash, on the other hand, invited all of his Phoenix Suns teammates up to the podium with him when he accepted the MVP.

Nash was the first high profile athlete to come out against Dick Cheney's "war of a generation" showing up at the 2003 All-Star game in 2003 wearing a T-shirt that read, "Shoot baskets not people." When questioned on his incendiary attire, Nash said, "I think that war is wrong in 99.9 percent of all cases. I think has much more to do with oil or some sort of distraction, because I don't feel as though we should be worrying about Iraq." He also showed far more prescience than Bush, Cheney, Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice saying, "I think that Saddam Hussein is a crazy dictator but I don't think he's threatening us at this point in time. We haven't found any nuclear weapons -- no matter what anyone says -- and that process is still under way. Until that's finished and decided I don't think that war is acceptable." He then reiterated his position that, "Unfortunately, this is more about oil than it is about nuclear weapons."

Nash also took issue with the pro-war media. Two years before the New York Times and The Washington Post were forced to issue apologies for their slavish, slothful pro-war coverage, Nash said, "I think a lot of what we hear in the news is misleading and flat-out false, so I think it's important for us to THINK deeper and find out what is really going on." He didn't backpedal from this stance despite criticism from his boss at the time, Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Spurs center David Robinson who said, ""If it's an embarrassment to maybe should be in a different country." Nash also was profiled in one mainstream paper earlier this season where he casually mentioned that the last book he read was The Communist Manifesto.

http://www.counterpunch.org/zirin05102005.html

[ultraprog]

1. See....

there is justice in the world. It just took a Canadian to show us the way.

[gristy]

2. I had no idea

Now I have another reason to be a huge Nash fan!

[marmar]

3. I didn't really know much about him...

because he's a quiet guy. After reading this, he's on my holiday greeting card list. A sports star/celeb with the cajones to speak his mind and not fear what might happen to his precious public image.

[Tim4319]

4. I am a huge basketball fan.

I had no idea he those feeling about the war! I thought he deserved this years MVP, and he did not win it because of his skin color, as some would have you to believe. I am a black man! and, I am pretty upset that someone would say he won it because he is white! But, after reading the above article, I am even more of a Steve Nash fan.

[stevedeshazer]

8. Agree

Beyond even MVP, I think Nash can be credited with almost single-handedly rescuing the NBA from itself, in that his open-court style of play forces the tempo of the game up, where it should be.

For too long, it's been a post-up, push-your-way-around league. The guys have all bulked up so they can rebound, but many big guys can't shoot worth a damn. The Suns aim to outscore you, which makes for a much better game to watch. I'd much rather watch a game that ends 132-131 in overtime than watch one of those 72-70 shoving matches where the team that wins shoots 35%.

I've been an NBA fan since the sixties, and over the last few years I'd almost given up. Now I look forward to games like these, and Nash has a lot to do with it.

The fact that he's vocally against the war is a bonus!

[orwell]

5. Courage

and teamwork above individualism.

Rather than him moving to a different country (shame on you Mr. Robinson), maybe we should all learn something from this bright young man. Truth is not a popularity contest.

In the end, his assessment was correct. At the very least that should count for something, or is "politically correct" more important than truth.

Never mind, I know the answer...

[ComerPerro]

6. I'm pretty impressed that those quotes are from a NBA player

let alone MVP.

His phrasing was very clear, concise, and showed a lot of thought.

[bballny]

7. Steve Nash

is an excellent player but I disagree with the conclusion that Shaq is an individual player. He left LA because he couldn't stand playing with Kobe who is a selfish player. Shaq is also an excellent team player.

[frylock]

9. nice quote by the little mermaid..

"If it's an embarrassment to maybe should be in a different country" (sic)

FU Robinson, you ill-informed, jingoistic piece of crap.

[RBHam]

10. Steve Nash - Most Valuable Progressive

[RBHam]

11. Nowitzki's thinking, "Damn! Wish he were still on my team!"

[RBHam]

12. Basketball star reads Communist Manifesto...

From the DU thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2973917


Nash Displays Polished Look: On the Court, of Course
By LIZ ROBBINS - NY Times

Steve Nash has been doing some light reading on the road, studying a playbook of sorts that outlines team concepts like discipline and sacrifice for the common good.

"I'm actually reading the Communist Manifesto," Nash said with a smile after a recent practice.

Nash's eclectic tastes range from Pat Conroy to Dickens to Kant. "I don't know if guys notice, which is good," he said. "I just want to be one of them."

So people won't think he is sympathetic to alternative causes, Nash explained that he picked up the manifesto, "only because I was reading the autobiography of Che Guevara and I wanted to get a better perspective."

Naturally. Nash's game, like his life, is about perspective.

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/19/sports/basketball/19n...


archive:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30714F8385C0C7A8DDDA80894DD404482