Dirk for Most Valuable Player

One of the curious and ironic developments over the last few seasons is the emergence of Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki as all-world superstars. It is curious because Nash was never an MVP candidate prior to his second stint with the Phoenix Suns - and ironic because Nash and Nowitzki were teammates in Dallas, but have really come into their own without each other. In their third consecutive season playing apart, the two players are once again MVP candidates.

Historically, the MVP has gone to the perceived 'best' player on the team with the most wins. That is one reason why I believe Dirk Nowitzki should win the MVP this season over Steve Nash. Not only is Nowitzki the unequivocal leader of his Dallas Mavericks, who have the best record in the NBA with 46 wins and just 9 losses, but it would also be a bit embarrassing to have Nash win the award for the third straight year since only three NBA players have won three consecutive MVP awards - Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and Larry Bird. As great a floor leader and player that Steve Nash is, he does not belong in such company. Chamberlain was an unstoppable scoring and rebounding force who set many records and changed the face of the game with his ridiculous dominance in the paint. He also led his team to the NBA title in one of his MVP seasons, which Steve Nash has yet to do. Russell, as most die-hard fans know, led his Boston Celtics to almost a dozen championships in his career, and Larry Bird later led Boston to an additional three in the 1980s. Imagine Steve Nash winning a third straight MVP award only to lose in the playoffs again this season - it would look silly, especially since Michael Jordan himself never won three MVPs in a row in spite of his obvious dominance individually and the dominance of the Chicago Bulls over the rest of the NBA.

I have made my case for Nowitzki over Nash, and unless another player takes over the second half of the season and leads his team to a number of wins comparable to Nowitzki's Mavericks and Nash's Suns, there won't be any other candidate whose name will be in serious running for the award.

Nowitzki image courtesy NBA.com (Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images)

Former NBA Great Dennis Johnson Dead at 52

Instead of a final blockbuster trade, more startling and tragic news grabbed the NBA headlines - the untimely and unexpected death of one of the best and classiest players the league has ever seen: Dennis Johnson. Johnson was coaching the Austin Toros of the NBA Developmental League when he collapsed and died.

An integral part of the Boston Celtics teams that won several titles in the 1980s, Johnson was a perfect complement to the likes of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. Before that, though, Johnson was a star scorer for the Seattle SuperSonics, winning a title with that team in 1979 and receiving the MVP of the Finals. He was a five-time NBA All-Star and a great defensive talent who made six All-Defensive First Teams in his career.

More recently, Johnson had been involved in coaching on a number of levels. Prior to landing a coaching job with the Toros, Johnson had coached the Florida Flame in the Developmental League and served as an assistant coach for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers in 2002-03.

He will be missed by his family, the NBA, and its fans.

Eastern Conference Woes

A common complaint among NBA fans these days is that the Eastern Conference is incredibly weak compared to its Western counterpart. In search of statistical evidence of this alleged weakness, a simple view of the current NBA standings revealed a scary fact: only one Eastern team, the Detroit Pistons, have a winning percentage of 60% or better. This means the Pistons are the only team in the East who are on pace to win more than 49 games. By comparison, the Western conference has six teams who are on pace to do so.

I could not remember the last time either conference failed to yield a team that won at least 50 games, so I did some online research to find out if this has ever happened before. Besides the 1998-99 lockout season, which only featured 50 games in total instead of the standard 82 games, I had to go all the way back to the 1974-75 NBA season to find an example. That season, the best team in the Western Conference, the Golden State Warriors, won a mere 48 games.

All-Star Weekend: Should Tyrus Thomas Dunk?

Many NBA fanatics have probably heard the news that Chicago Bulls rookie Tyrus Thomas said he was only appearing in the All-Star Weekend dunk contest on February 17th for the money. Not only is this comment embarrassing to the NBA and its fans, but it doesn't even make sense since the dunk contest awards a paltry bonus of cash compared to the million-dollar contracts players get. Equally puzzling is he was fined only $10,000 for his inane comments - the least amount of cash a participant in the dunk contest can receive is $16,125, so Thomas will make some money regardless of how he performs.

For those who overlook Thomas' remarks and focus on his dunking ability, I have some bad news: he's not as great a dunker as many people seem to think. Before his comments reached the media, I checked out his "highlight" dunk video from NBA.com and noticed a tremendous lack of enthusiasm in his dunks. If you watch and compare his dunk highlights to current contest champion Nate Robinson, there is a conspicuous difference in body action and enthusiasm. No one wants to see an athletic player dunk with the emotion of a corpse. Thankfully, the superstar panel of judges - which includes the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant - will be making the decisions on the quality of dunks in the contest.

Ultimately, though, Thomas' attitude raises a question among fans who want to see excitement: should he even appear in the dunk contest at all? After I posted Tyrus' comments on a basketball forum, several people responded with a desire to see him replaced by another dunker. The NBA certainly isn't short on slam dunk talent, so the question has merit. However, the NBA will probably think the fine is enough punishment for Thomas and won't look for any replacements. If that is the case, let's hope Thomas has actually learned something from the media backlash and decides to put actual effort into the dunk contest.