Nash, who averaged only 18 points per game in 06, why did Kobe, who averaged 35 points per game, become MVP?

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-05-18 22:33Posted in Henan Sports Creators

As one of the greatest superstars in NBA history, Kobe Bryant has also achieved numerous honors in his career, but for a player of Kobe's level, many fans still regret that he has only one MVP. In Kobe's prime, with the exception of the 2007-2008 season, he still had many seasons that deserved the MVP award, especially in the 2005-2006 season, when he averaged 35.4 points per game.

But in the selection of MVP in the 2005-2006 season, Nash, who averaged 18.8 points per game, became the winner for the second consecutive season, so why was he able to beat Kobe, who averaged 35.4 points per game, to become MVP? Let's find out.

Kobe Bryant has been the only absolute core of the Lakers since the collapse of the OK group in 2004, but due to the departure of head coach Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant has to readjust to the new system. Therefore, in the 2004-2005 game, Kobe's personal strength did not improve too significantly, and he averaged 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the regular season. Although Kobe Bryant tried his best, the Lakers still missed the playoffs this year, and he was only selected to the best three teams, and he didn't even rank in the top 10 in the MVP selection.

After suffering from missing the playoffs, the Lakers rehired Phil Jackson in 2005, which also helped Kobe Bryant play better in the new season. In the regular season, Kobe Bryant played in 80 games to help the team reach the playoffs, playing an average of 41 minutes per game, and was able to score 35.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals, and finally he was successfully elected the scoring champion that year.

This year, Bryant averaged 35.4 points per game, which not only set a new career high, but also became the highest scoring player per game in a single season since Jordan in the 1986-1987 season. In this year's NBA, the average of 35.4 points per game is also the only one in the league, and Kobe Bryant is also the only player who scored more than 2,500 points in the regular season that season, so his gold content as the scoring champion can be said to be quite high.

Over the course of the season, Bryant has scored at least 35+ in a total of 46 games, including 20 games with 40+ and 6 games with 50+. On December 20, 2005, in the game against the Mavericks, Kobe Bryant played three quarters of the game, 18 of 31 shots, 22 of 25 free throws, 62 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals, it is worth mentioning that the Mavericks only scored 61 points after the three quarters. And when the team locked up the win early, Kobe Bryant did not continue to play in the final quarter, otherwise it would not be a problem to cut 70+ or 80+ with his feeling at the time.

And just over a month later, in the game against the Raptors on January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant once again conquered the fans with a crazy personal scoring feast. In the first half of this game, Kobe Bryant also performed well, scoring 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting. But because the Lakers were still behind by 14 points, Kobe Bryant completely broke out in the second half, scoring 55 points on 18-of-28 shooting in the two quarters, not only creating a miracle of 81 points in a single game, but also leading the team to complete the reversal.

It is worth mentioning that on the same day that Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the NBA also had events such as Maddy scoring 43 points, Iverson scoring 39 points, Iguodala beating the Timberwolves, and the Suns supersonic overtime bombing 301 points, but their heat together is not as good as Kobe Bryant.

From these two games, you can see how terrifying Kobe Bryant's scoring explosion was at that time, and he was naturally crucial to the Lakers' overall offense, the Lakers' offensive efficiency could be the third in the league when he was on the court that season, and when he was not on the court, he fell off a cliff to the bottom of the league. And Kobe Bryant is not only offensive, he is also unsparing on the defensive end, so he was also selected to the best defensive team this season.

The regular season lasted six months, and Kobe Bryant's worst performance in the six months was in February, where he averaged 31.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 3.2 steals per game, and in January, he averaged 43.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game, and in April, when he launched a sprint to the playoffs in the closing stage, Kobe averaged 41.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game, and his shooting percentage and three-point shooting rate were as high as 50.9% and 41.3%.

Therefore, under the leadership of Kobe, the Lakers struggled to get a 45-37 record, and finally they were able to return to the playoffs in the seventh place in the West. It is worth mentioning that the Lakers only scored 14.5 points that year, except for Kobe, the best Odom, and Smush Parker and Chris Mim only averaged 11.5 points and 10.2 points per game respectively, and there were 17 players in the Lakers' registered roster that season, and 7 of them were eliminated by the NBA in less than 3 years.

But in the MVP selection, Kobe Bryant's total score was only 483 points to rank fourth in the league, but he received 21 first-place votes, which is better than James and Nowitzki in front of him. However, at that time, Nash can be said to be in first place by a landslide, he received a total of 57 first-place votes and a total score of 924 points, so what kind of performance did he play?

First of all, before reviewing Nash's performance in the 2005-2006 season, we must know that this season the Suns averaged 26 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and the team's second-in-command Smalls only played 3 games, plus Joe Johnson, who averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1 steal per game in the previous season, joined the Hawks, and Quentin, who averaged 14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2 assists per game, was sent to the Knicks. Because of the loss of core players and injuries, the Suns, who had just played 62 wins the year before, were greatly reduced on paper, so many people at that time were not too optimistic about Nash and the team's performance in the new season before the start of the season.

However, the result is that the Suns still have a 54-28 record in the 2005-2006 season, and their wins have been reduced by only eight after losing so many instant players. As the leader of the team, Nash averaged 18.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game in the regular season, including a career-high scoring average per game. And Nash is notoriously efficient offensively, shooting 51.2 percent, 43.9 percent, and 92.1 percent from three, respectively. And under Nash's tandem, the Suns also played the strongest offense in the league, and their average of 108.4 points per game in the regular season also ranked first in the league.

Although it may seem like Nash's individual scoring is low, he has never been a scorer, and his biggest strength is in organizing the offense and driving his teammates. With Nash's help, some of the Suns players have played the best performance of their careers this season, led by Marion, who averaged 21.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this year, shooting 52.5% from the field, scoring and rebounding are career highs, and it is worth mentioning that the season when he was selected to the best three teams twice coincided with the time when Nash was elected MVP in a row.

Ragabel also benefited from Nash's help, moving to the Suns in 2005 and then averaging a career-high scoring point per game in his first season here, averaging 14.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in the regular season that year. In addition, the original "Brazilian Lightning" Barbossa also made a name for himself next to Nash, and he averaged 13.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in the 2005-2006 season.

In 2004-2005, he averaged only 4.8 points per game and shot 42.2% from the field, and in his first season with the Suns, he completed his transformation, averaging 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in the 2005-2006 season, shooting 52.6% from the field, and was eventually selected as the most improved player.

Considering that basketball is a team sport, his addition to his teammates should be valued by voters in the MVP selection, so in the end, Nash deserves to be elected MVP.

View original image 292K

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•