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Here are a few observations.
The Mavericks vs. the Suns is to the NBA what the Yankees vs. the Red Sox is to MLB.
From now on, whenever the trio of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are mentioned as the future of the NBA, Chris Bosh’s name needs to be included too.
If it wasn’t for the incident at Madison Square Garden, Anthony might have placed in the top five in the MVP balloting.
Winning the lottery is overrated. Ask the Raptors (Jorge Garbajosa), Grizzlies (Tarence Kinsey) and Jazz (Paul Millsap) who have three of the top first-year players.
From their coach having surgery midway through the season, to losing both of their superstars to injuries for long periods of time, the Heat are proof that defending your title is never easy.
Kobe Bryant, a.k.a. Mr. 50 Points, is the greatest scorer I’ve ever seen (I never saw Wilt play and sorry MJ).
Kings forward Ron Artest still doesn’t get it.
The upcoming draft is shaping up to be the best since 2003.
The Pistons with Chris Webber in the middle are more dangerous than the Pistons with Ben Wallace in the middle.
Shaun Livingston’s knee injury was the ugliest thing I’ve seen on the court since Anthony Mason was shooting free throws.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Pau Gasol are way too good to be on teams that are way too bad.
It’s a toss up between the Raptors and Jazz for the surprise team of the year.
It’s a toss up between Sam Mitchell and Jerry Sloan for Coach of the Year.
Regardless of what uniform he is wearing, steals, assists and points seem to follow Allen Iverson around.
If Andre Iguodala could have balled like this when the other AI was in town, the Sixers would be playoff-bound.
Whether it’s Larry Brown or Isiah Thomas coaching them, the Knicks just aren’t that good.
Dirk Nowitzki deserves to win MVP this season.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Nash won his third straight MVP.
If you were paying attention, Tracy McGrady might have been the real MVP.
Yao Ming has replaced Shaquille O'Neal as the game’s most dominant big man.
It’s official, Amare Stoudemire is back.
Regardless of the location, there is no such thing as a bad All-Star Weekend.
Dwight Howard was robbed at the Slam Dunk Contest.
There is no more exciting play in basketball than Baron Davis running a three-on-one fast break.
With apologies to Shaq, Gilbert Arenas might be the greatest entertainer in the league.
Time to respond to some of your e-mails.
Mike in Virginia: Maurice, what's up with T-Mac? As a huge fan of your weekly race (your boss is dumb for not letting you continue to write it through the playoffs) I would love a logical explanation about Tracy McGrady's rating. You have defended yourself very well all season but I don't think T-Mac should climb up to No. 3 in the rankings. Other than that, major props for this year's column.
Brooks: Mike, do me a solid and take a look at T-Mac's body of work. You will have a hard time finding a flaw with anything he did this season. Like I said in last week's R2MVP, he carried the load while Yao was out, the Rockets won games, he put up the big numbers and he was the team's leader. Regardless of what your definition of MVP is, McGrady fits it this season and is worthy of his top-three ranking.
D-Buttonz in Delaware: Have you fallen and hit your head? There is no way that Kobe Bryant should be fourth in the final Race to the MVP. I was hoping that you got it right by the end of the season.
Brooks: D-Buttonz, is that your rap name or are you trying to be cool for e-mail purposes? KB24 had a chance to move up to the third spot but the Lakers kept taking loss after loss after loss. Don't blame me.
Kevon in New Jersey: How the heck is Kevin Garnett No. 20 in the R2MVP. This column is bogus.
Brooks: Is it just me or did we stop saying bogus in the 1980s? Anyway, everybody knows KG has the talent to be in the top five in the rankings but if you combine his injury along with Timberwolves finishing 18 games below .500 it is hard to make a case for Garnett being any higher.
Jim in Florida: I've read your column every week, including the mailbags, and I'm glad your boss is not letting you write any more columns this season. Also, I hope you don't write the column next year either. You suck.
Brooks: Let me make sure I understand. You hate my column but you tortured yourself for 24 weeks by reading it week after week? Nice.
Charles in Las Vegas: Maurice, I like your article, including your bits of humor. Very nice. However, I disagree with your final selection. I would chose Nash over Nowitzki. Why? They are both important to their teams, and the regular season was basically a tie between the two of them. So I look to the head-to-head matchups where Dirk fades during crunch time. Nash doesn't. Also, I think it's pretty clear that Dallas can compete at a high level even with Nowitzki out where as the Suns are simply lost without Nash. Therefore, I would respectfully disagree with your final tally, though you certainly make a good case for your views. Keep up the good work.
Brooks: Dirk played a great game in the third matchup between the Suns and Mavericks but fell a little flat down the stretch and nobody will let him forget about it. I weigh the first game of the season the same as the 82nd game of the season and feel that overall, Nowitzki deserves the MVP over the rest of the league. Another thing, Nowitzki and Nash both play with very talented teammates who would get more than their share of victories if either of them were out of the lineup for an extended period of time.
Steve in San Antonio: Geez Maurice, Tim Duncan gets wrongly ejected from one game and you drop him in the rankings. That's just not right.
Brooks: Timmy was barely holding on to the third spot in the rankings last week. In my eyes, it was like a tie between Duncan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tracy McGrady and I needed the final few games to see how things would shake out.
Mars in USA: Maurice, I don't know why people like you always say that MVP is a prize for the best player on the best team. It's called MVP for a reason. You should get a tip off the ESPN voters. They all believe that Kobe is the MVP and that the Lakers would be a lottery team without him.
Brooks: Maybe there are two different ESPN websites, because I stumbled onto their website today and saw most of their writers echoed my choice of Nowitzki.
Scott in Australia: I love your work mate. You do a fantastic job and analyze very well but I'm a bit disappointed with the decision you've reached on the R2MVP this season. I think, and I hope, Nash and Dirk will share the award seeing as they've both had great seasons on awesome teams. Let's hope its a tie for sentimental's sake. Cheers.
Brooks: You are probably the same dude that goes to the supermarket and can't make a choose between paper or plastic so you take both, right?
Steve in Los Angeles: Come on, I love Deron William, but you put Williams ahead of Yao Ming. No way.
Brooks: If Yao wouldn't have gotten hurt, he would have been ahead of Deron. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Deron was there game after game for the surprising Jazz.
Sunniboy in Australia: Hi Brooksy, I love your work as always but (oh yes, there is a but), you make it seem like Dirk has the award wrapped up. I won't be surprised if he wins the MVP but Nash has a good chance to win, too. Also, isn't it funny that they both changed up their hairdos this season. It must be an MVP thing. I wonder what would happen if Ben Wallace changed up his hair?
Brooks: If Big Ben went from an afro to a baldy he would still be a rebounding and defensive monster and Nowitzki and Nash would still be duking it out for MVP honors.
Schanell in Arizona: Well, I have one consolation for your final ranking. The Haier fans over the last few weeks have spoken. Although you see it Dirk's way, the people see it Nash's way. With 38 percent of the vote, Nash is the MVP to the fans. It has been enjoyable reading your column and thanks for the season. Rock on!
Brooks: No disrespect to the fans, but they have been known to make a mistake or two. How else do you explain Sanjaya sticking around so long on American Idol and Clyde Drexler being sent home on Dancing With the Stars?
