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“It’s completely illogical” - Bill Simmons thought Steve Nash was undeserving of his second MVP trophy
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- “It’s completely illogical” - Bill Simmons thought Steve Nash was undeserving of his second MVP trophy
There are only 13 back-to-back MVP winners in the history of the NBA and one of those was Steve Nash . Nash grabbed his first in 2005 after leading the Phoenix Suns to a league-best 62-20 record, a 33-game improvement from the previous season.
It can be attributed to luck or destiny. Still, the Santa Clara product became practically unstoppable after getting handed the keys to the "Seven Seconds or Less" offense and a league-wide ban on hand-checking.
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But while that should not diminish his 2005 accomplishment in any way, many NBA personalities believe Nash securing a second one in the very next season was questionable, to say the least. One of those pundits who took issue with Steve's second MVP plum was Bill Simmons .
Why Nash's 2006 MVP was questionable
As mentioned, being the orchestrator of a groundbreaking offense with a 62-win proof of concept should count for something. If it meant becoming the Most Valuable Player, so be it. But doing it twice in a row with fewer wins to boot? That should raise eyebrows.
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"It's just that multiple modern point guards (Kidd, Payton, Stockton, Isiah, even Mark Price) played the position as well or better than Nash did this season, and none of them ever won an MVP Award. Why should Nash get rewarded? It's completely illogical," Simmons wrote for his ESPN column back in 2006.
The longtime sports writer raised a valid point. While Mark Pice or John Stockton had no business being mentioned in there, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton and Isiah Thomas had better statistical seasons, plus team success at one point and never won a thing.
Payton led the NBA in steals in 1996 (2.9) and averaged 19.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.5 assists for the season. The Seattle SuperSonics won 64 games that year, but still, The Glove just sat outside the top five in MVP voting!
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Same thing for Kidd. The guy led a 26-game turnaround for the New Jersey Nets in 2002 and carried that team to the Finals. He finished second behind Tim Duncan in MVP voting.
Meanwhile, Zeke averaged 19.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.7 steals, leading the Detroit Pistons to a two-seed (54-28) in an ultra-competitive Eastern Conference, the hunting grounds of Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.
Guess where he ended up in the MVP ladder? Number 12, even below guys like Fat Lever, Karl Malone, and Stockton. Malone and Stockton's Utah Jazz only won 47 games, while Lever's Denver Nuggets also had 54 wins, the same as the Pistons.
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Why Nash deserved the MVP
Because Simmons felt it was way out of line to give the MVP to Nash, he openly rooted for Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers to defeat the Suns in the 2006 playoffs. The NBA analyst hoped Kobe would go crazy like Hakeem Olajuwon in 1995 after David Robinson took home league MVP honors, but that did not quite happen.
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Now, here is something that Simmons conveniently left out: Nash's stats were actually better in 2006 than in 2005. He averaged one fewer assist, but still led the NBA in helpers (10.5), while increasing his scoring output by 3.3 points (15.5 to 18.8). Steve also put on a shooting clinic that season, topping 50/40/90 splits for the first time in his career.
The Suns did win eight fewer games that season, but the reason was obvious from the start. Amar'e Stoudemire missed all but three games, so they had to go with Boris Diaw as their makeshift center. Phoenix faced adversity, but they never missed a beat, thanks largely to Nash.
Sure, everybody is entitled to their opinion. But in reality, the only other guy who had a case for MVP that year was Dirk Nowitzki . He was statistically insane, averaging nearly 27 points, nine rebounds and three assists as Dallas went on to collect 60 victories. All the other candidates either had worse standings ( LeBron James and Kobe Bryant) or worse stats ( Chauncey Billups ).
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Reasonable people can still debate the vote, but the race was never as outrageous as Simmons made it out to be.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 10, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
