The Suns point guard has won the award two years running and some people still haven't become accustomed to saying those words: Steve Nash, MVP.

For those who couldn't see Nash as a one-time MVP, let alone two, imagine how they're gonna feel when he wins his third straight this year.

"Well, MJ never won three in a row," they'll bluster.

"Neither did Magic," they'll continue, "or Kareem or Moses. None of those guys have won three in a row and they're all time greats."

I could apologize to the Hall of Famers above for their not winning three in a row, after all, they have been shafted, right? I mean, Kareem took home a record six MVPs, MJ "only" won five, Magic nabbed a mere three and Moses won three. But I won't. Their place in history is more than secure.

At the end of this season, when he joins Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird as the fourth player ever to win three consecutive MVPs, Nash's place in history will also be secure.

Nash has been the most valuable player in this league for the past three seasons. Period. I understand the arguments my colleagues have made regarding Gilbert Arenas (the most exciting player, and the NBA's verbal version of Muhammad Ali), Kobe Bryant (the most talented player in the league) and Dirk Nowitzki (the best player on the best team), but none have made more of an impact on his team and on the league as Nash has the past three seasons.

Now, when people usually argue in favor of an MVP candidate, invariably the words, "Can you imagine that team without him?" Yeah, I can imagine a lot of things, but the Suns without Steve Nash isn't one of them.

Folks, this ain't It's A Wonderful Life, and I won't play Clarence the Angel to Nash's George Bailey. No, we should look at what Nash brings to the Suns instead of what they'd look like without him. (We do know that, by the way: 29-53, the Suns' record the year before Nash returned to Phoenix in 2004. And that was with Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion on the squad.)

Everything the Suns do flows from Nash: the running, the passing, the spacing, the tempo, the speed. Other teams have tried to go up-tempo as the Suns did under Nash, but have abandoned it. It's too tough to maintain, we can't get our spacing, we can't get our rhythm, blah, blah, blah. So, they revert back to the grinding half-court game while the Suns, led by Nash on the break, continually beat those teams down the floor for ridiculously easy buckets.

How easy? For example, the Suns shot 35 for 46 from inside the arc against the Washington Wizards on Jan. 23, a blistering .760 pace and unheard of these days.

It also shows Nash and the Suns will be giving no quarter to opponents this season, as Bill Simmons pointed out in his 3,649-word wet sloppy last week to the Suns, Nash has a new, killer attitude.

Nash has gone from the "That's my family, Kay, not me" Michael Corleone to the "Don't ask me about my business Kay" Michael Corleone in one season.

Yes, the two-time MVP has played with more fire this season and it's paid off in a 33-8 record and win streaks of 15 and 14 games. Going into their Jan. 24 game against the Knicks, the Suns have won 30 of their last 32 games. They've won close games, they've won triple OT games, they've cruised in blowouts and they've outright embarrassed teams, such as when Nash handed out 21 assists in a 109-90 laugher over the Cavaliers.

Add to that, Nash is putting up the best numbers of his career with 19.5 points and 11.6 assists per game. It will be tough to vote against a two-time MVP who's having his best year ever.

Yet, some of the troglodytes in the media won't vote for him because he's not MJ or Magic or Kareem and believe that a scrawny point guard who's not a great defender should be included in or placed above such company. To them, I ask, "Are you only in it for the Marriott Awards Points? Do you not take this job seriously?"

After years of complaining that the game had become too slow, too ugly and too boring, Steve Nash and the Suns have given people and sportswriters the gift of fastbreak basketball once again. This is what you asked for and Nash has helped give it to you.

It's time for you to give it up to him.

Again.