Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash will be awarded the NBA's Most Valuable Player on Sunday, ESPN.com has learned.

Nash has edged Miami center Shaquille O'Neal to become just the fourth point guard in MVP history to win the league's highest individual honor, according to sources familiar with the results. The others are Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Bob Cousy.

The official announcement will come at halftime of ABC's 3 p.m. ET playoff game.

O'Neal, three times an NBA Finals MVP, has won the regular-season MVP trophy just once in his 13 seasons. Apparently tipping this vote in Nash's favor was the Suns' 33-game improvement -- from 29 wins to a league-leading 62 wins -- after signing Nash away from the Dallas Mavericks in the offseason.

Nash's previous best MVP showing was 14th place in 2002.

With Nash flanked by the athletic finishing of fellow All-Stars Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, Phoenix became just the second team in NBA annals to win at least 60 games after a 50-loss season. The first? The Boston Celtics in Larry Bird's rookie season of 1979-80.

But Nash is defying history to beat out O'Neal, and not simply because he had only one scholarship offer from a Division I university -- Santa Clara -- as a slight Canadian teen-ager in British Columbia.

Allen Iverson, the NBA's 2001 MVP as a shooting guard, is the only player shorter than 6-foot-6 in the past four decades to win the award. Nash also becomes the first MVP since Portland's Bill Walton in 1978 to average less than 20 points per game. His 15.5-point scoring average for the Suns is the third-lowest all-time for an MVP, ahead of only Washington's Wes Unseld (13.8 ppg in 1969) and Boston's Bill Russell (14.1 ppg in 1965).

Nash, though, did lead the league in assists (11.5 apg) by a wide margin for a Suns team that averaged a league-leading 110 points per game.

Phoenix swept Memphis 4-0 in a first-round series and awaits the Dallas-Houston winner in the second round, raising the possibility of an emotional series against the team he left last summer.

=D> =D> =D> =D> BRAVO! no one was more deserving then him. w00t! an ex-mav won.
lol this is a sign that the mavs will meet the suns in the second round.

THAT's Right BABY!!!!!!!!!!! GO NASH!!! He's awesome! \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ =D> =D> =D>

You cant be serious. :-#

Shaq was obviously the most valuable player to his team without a doubt.

Even Allen Iverson is more valuable to his team than Nash.

Hell Nash isnt even the MVP of his own team ... Stoudamire is ....

dude Suns/Stoudamire are a much more better/winning team/player with Nash then without.

Guess first MVP that won't get in Hall of Fame.

Listen ... yes they are much better with Nash than without him. Nash is a great player and deserved to be in the conversation of MVP. Unfourtunatly that is it.

I honest to god believe the only reason he won is because he is white.

Shaq freaking leaves LA (where did they finish again ... hmmm) and goes to Miami.

He takes them and makes them the dominant team in the freaking NBA. He is a monster, he changes EVERYTHING, and is by far the MVP of the leauge. What is Miami without Shaq? A team that in the west wouldn't make the playoffs, and in the east would be around a 6 seed with a first round exit. AKA the lakers.

=D> this white boy can play.

I have to agree.

Shaq's impact to the team he left (Lakers) and the team he joined (Miami) is astounding and shows just how valuable he was to each team. I believe that if Phoenix lost Nash, they'd still be a decent team and would easily make the playoffs. I can't say the same for the Miami Heat without Shaq.

I also don't think Nash could ever do what Shaq did on his own - going to a non-playoff team next year and making them a bonfide contender to win it all.

Just ask yourself... if you owned a team and could pick either Shaq or Nash, who would you choose?

didn't Nash do that this year with the Suns?

Nash

Leaves Mav's. They Improve from 52 wins in '04 to 58 wins in '05.


Shaq

Leaves Lakers. They decline from wins and Western Conf. Champs in '04 to wins and no playoffs in '05 Also takes the Heat to a #1 seed (up from a 4 seed)


"When you talk about MVP, you have to evaluate not just one end of the floor, but both ends, offense and defense," Heat guard Damon Jones said. "Steve Nash has done a wonderful job, but does he really affect the game on the defensive end? Offensively, he's superb. But hands-down, Shaq is the MVP."


Lets not forget either ... yeh the Suns missed the playoffs last year ... but they were in them the year before with much the same team. Stoudimire missed like 30 games last year. The turnaround is not at all just Nash.

Nash won because he is white.

No. The suns without nash and with a viable point guard still make the playoffs. The suns were beset with injuries last year.

\:D/ =D> :razz: IT WORKED! LOL all thx goes to Nash.

While I am happy Nash won it..........I would say Shaq is the true MVP. I mean just look at the Lakers without him and the Heat with him. Iverson would've won it if his team was a lil better. But both Shaq and Nash are deserving.

I honexztly can't believe you would think that Eagle. His numbers and the teams turn around tell the story.

[quote="Eagle"]Listen ... yes they are much better with Nash than without him. Nash is a great player and deserved to be in the conversation of MVP. Unfourtunatly that is it.

I honest to god believe the only reason he won is because he is white.

Are you fucking kidding me? He is the first white guy to win it since Bird. What a myopic and easy way to look at things. [-X

I believe the Shaquille O'neal was a much more deserving MVP Then Steve Nash, I"m not saying that Steve Nash isn't worthy of the MVP title just that he was lucky to get it. I was very surprised when i heard his name instead of O'neal's. ..... Life goes on ](*,)

The Lakers were terrible because they got almost nothing in return for Shaq, so its like having a huge hole in their lineup. I mean if they had a decent replacement for him they would have made the playoffs. Plus they had coaching issues, and Kobe was injured for a good 25 games. The Lakers were a mess this year.

The Heat improved because of Shaq, but even more so because of Dwayne Wade's aging curve. The kid is amazing, and don't give me that "it is because of Shaq bullshit" cause Dwayne won the first two rounds of the playoffs BY HIMSELF (Shaq was injured and when he did play he was terrible), and then when Wade got injured in the Conference Finals Shaq couldn't carry his team anywhere. Unfortunately that was their last chance at the title too. Mourning is going to be even older and will lose his usefulness, Shaq will be even older and put up career worse numbers (for the second year in a row), Wade will get better (their only upside), and they have to try and resign like 7 of their rotation.

I just can't stand the fact that people think Shaq is the MVP even though he put up the worst numbers of his career.

As for Nash, he is the motor that makes that machine run. On the offensive end he can do about anything, unfortunately on defense he can't really do much.

BTW, the true MVP of the league is Dirk Nowitski. He is the heart and soul of his team, and outside of Duncan and Garnett (both who have already won) the only player in the running who is the only really great player on his team (Nash has Stoudamire, Shaq has Wade)....I know Kobe is the same, but because his team was terrible this year he can't be considered (even though he put up excellent numbers).