Shaquille O’Neal wrote that the Phoenix Suns didn’t do anything while he won a title in regards to Steve Nash winning MVP over him.
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It truly is a travesty that both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal won merely a single MVP during their combined 39 years of play in the NBA. Shaq’s 2000 regular season ‘Most Valuable Player’ award was rightfully his as it was perhaps the most dominant display of brute force the league had seen since ‘The Big Dipper’ 40 years prior.
However, it could be argued that he should’ve won more than just one and frankly, more than just two. For starters, the 2003 MVP went to Tim Duncan, making him a back-to-back winner of the award but Shaquille O’Neal put up some of the best stats of his career, shooting over 62% from the field averaging his usual 27+ ppg.
Of course, the Spurs did win 60 games that season while the Lakers battled internal turmoil and mustered up 50 wins so Timmy snagging it makes sense. One MVP that Shaq swears should be his is the 2005 MVP that he lost to Steve Nash.
Shaquille O’Neal on losing an MVP to Steve Nash.
Shaquille O’Neal made an impact for the Miami Heat the second he put on their silky red and black jerseys. He won them 17 more games than the previous season and proved to be the perfect partner to Dwyane Wade. While they lost the ECF in 7 to a battle-tested Detroit Pistons, they would come back with a vengeance.
‘The Big Aristotle’ would have a dip in his averages that year but would still put up 23 points, 10 rebounds, and nearly 3 blocks a night. Steve Nash on the other hand, had just joined the Phoenix Suns that same year and led them to 62 wins all while snagging the number 1 seed in the West (Heat were the no. 1 seed as well with 59 wins).
Unfortunately for Shaq, he would lose out in the regular season MVP race to the Canadian legend in one of the closest MVP races to date with a mere 34 point difference between the two. The former Laker has been very vocal about his distaste for this decision being made, even claiming that Nash was a sympathy MVP.
Underneath the post, O’Neal would actually comment saying, “Miami won the chip, what Phoenix do?” in an effort to compare the Suns’ Playoff disappointments to his second year title alongside Dwyane Wade in ‘06.
