iamanonymous
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Surprisingly, no one has extensively picked up on the Steve Nash All-Star snub angle yet. Here’s a player not chosen to the midseason spectacle just two seasons after winning his second straight MVP award. Yes, just two seasons. Even Laguna Beach aired for three seasons. Unfortunately, Nash is now the second fastest former MVP to be left out of the All-Star Game.
Wes Unseld holds the unenviable distinction of being the fastest, after for some strange reason, he was not selected to the 1970 edition despite winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP honors the previous season. Moses Malone and Bill Walton also missed the All-Star Game one year after receiving the Maurice Podoloff trophy. But to be fair, they were both sidelined due to major injuries. Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone, meanwhile, were booted out of the Game three seasons after winning the award.
Nash, a six-time All-Star, was not included in the Western Conference lineup this year despite a pretty decent season. His non-selection also rubbed salt to the wound since it prevented him from playing in front of the Phoenix fans, who venerate him on a daily basis. The Santa Clara product only finished sixth in the voting among Western guards with 677,211 nods—more than 13,000 down from last season.
There’s no denying that Nash doesn’t attract millions of fans like the Kobes, the LeBrons, or the T-Macs, and this ultimately derails his chances to be an All-Star starter (the only time Nash was a starter was in 2006). So what? Coaches love selfless players like Nash and they will surely include him in their sacrosanct All-Star reserve ballots, right? Not this year. As it turned out, Nash was unpopular with the tacticians as well.
The snubbing of Nash is glaringly justified and acquiesced upon by the majority. The Suns are currently eighth in the West with a 26-20 record and have lost six of their last 10 games, including shockers to doormats Charlotte, Indiana, and Minnesota. Nash’s numbers are also going south: his 14.6 points per game is his lowest since 2000, his 47.9% shooting is his lowest since 2004, and his 3.8 TOs an outing ties a career worst. It is also mildly absurd to see three Suns (the two being Shaquille O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire) in the All-Star Game with their underachieving record.
Simply put, Nash doesn’t have a spot on the West squad. It’s a consensus among fans and observers that David West is not worthy of an All-Star nod, but is Nash a more suitable choice? The answer is no. The West’s second unit is already loaded in the backcourt with Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, and Brandon Roy. Picking Nash in favor of any of those three is as logical as licking your grandmother’s decade-old dentures.
What makes the Nash snub striking though is that he was unceremoniously excluded from the All-Star Game. Here’s a future Hall of Famer and one of the top 10 point guards of all time—and he’ll watch instead of play. Was the snub too early? Probably. Recent MVP winners don’t usually receive the cold shoulder on the midyear showcase. Oscar Robertson played in seven straight editions after winning the MVP in 1964, David Robinson suited up in five straight after 1995, while active former MVPs Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett have yet to miss a contest.
This year’s All-Star snub doesn’t mean that Nash has hit the dead-end of his phenomenal career. But at the same time, it also makes his back-to-back MVP seasons feel like centuries ago. And as the midseason classic rides off into the proverbial sunset, pardon the pun, Nash will be unpopularly noted as the fastest multiple MVPs winner to be left out of the All-Star Game.
Wes Unseld holds the unenviable distinction of being the fastest, after for some strange reason, he was not selected to the 1970 edition despite winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP honors the previous season. Moses Malone and Bill Walton also missed the All-Star Game one year after receiving the Maurice Podoloff trophy. But to be fair, they were both sidelined due to major injuries. Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone, meanwhile, were booted out of the Game three seasons after winning the award.
Nash, a six-time All-Star, was not included in the Western Conference lineup this year despite a pretty decent season. His non-selection also rubbed salt to the wound since it prevented him from playing in front of the Phoenix fans, who venerate him on a daily basis. The Santa Clara product only finished sixth in the voting among Western guards with 677,211 nods—more than 13,000 down from last season.
There’s no denying that Nash doesn’t attract millions of fans like the Kobes, the LeBrons, or the T-Macs, and this ultimately derails his chances to be an All-Star starter (the only time Nash was a starter was in 2006). So what? Coaches love selfless players like Nash and they will surely include him in their sacrosanct All-Star reserve ballots, right? Not this year. As it turned out, Nash was unpopular with the tacticians as well.
The snubbing of Nash is glaringly justified and acquiesced upon by the majority. The Suns are currently eighth in the West with a 26-20 record and have lost six of their last 10 games, including shockers to doormats Charlotte, Indiana, and Minnesota. Nash’s numbers are also going south: his 14.6 points per game is his lowest since 2000, his 47.9% shooting is his lowest since 2004, and his 3.8 TOs an outing ties a career worst. It is also mildly absurd to see three Suns (the two being Shaquille O’Neal and Amare Stoudemire) in the All-Star Game with their underachieving record.
Simply put, Nash doesn’t have a spot on the West squad. It’s a consensus among fans and observers that David West is not worthy of an All-Star nod, but is Nash a more suitable choice? The answer is no. The West’s second unit is already loaded in the backcourt with Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, and Brandon Roy. Picking Nash in favor of any of those three is as logical as licking your grandmother’s decade-old dentures.
What makes the Nash snub striking though is that he was unceremoniously excluded from the All-Star Game. Here’s a future Hall of Famer and one of the top 10 point guards of all time—and he’ll watch instead of play. Was the snub too early? Probably. Recent MVP winners don’t usually receive the cold shoulder on the midyear showcase. Oscar Robertson played in seven straight editions after winning the MVP in 1964, David Robinson suited up in five straight after 1995, while active former MVPs Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett have yet to miss a contest.
This year’s All-Star snub doesn’t mean that Nash has hit the dead-end of his phenomenal career. But at the same time, it also makes his back-to-back MVP seasons feel like centuries ago. And as the midseason classic rides off into the proverbial sunset, pardon the pun, Nash will be unpopularly noted as the fastest multiple MVPs winner to be left out of the All-Star Game.
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