In Review: PG's in MVP Voting

Well, by now you know that the NBA’s MVP has been named. (What, you didn’t? That’s OK, I let you know last August, just in case you forgot).

Anyway, I’m not here to dissect who should have won – even though I told you that too, in February – but rather, to check out which PG’s got MVP-love. And of course, Chris Paul, who made one heck of a run late in the year, finished second. His 28 first-place votes were second; he had twice as many second-place votes (64) as anyone; and he had just two voters deeming him outside the top three. That’s a total of 889 points (compared to Bryant’s 1105; ahead of Garnett’s 609).

Oh yeah, and he’s 22.

Speaking of, it had me wondering about other great PG’s at that age, and how they fared in MVP voting. Thanks to a trusty source – Association of Professional Basketball Research; member since ’01 baby! – I checked the archived MVP voting:

Bob Cousy (1951) – The MVP didn’t exist; it wouldn’t have mattered though, Cooz was a rook.

Oscar Robertson (1961) – They always said he didn’t play “like a normal rookie,” the voters agreed – the Big O got seven first-place votes, 70 in total, and finished fifth. (Who was in front of him? Russ, Pettit, Baylor, and Wilt… that’s all)

Magic Johnson (1982) – His third year, and even though he put up 18.6/9.6/9.5 - oddly enough the closest he ever came to triple-dip-ville - he finished eighth, with no first-place votes. Perhaps getting Paul Westhead fired was the reason for the media neglect.

John Stockton (1985) – Was too preoccupied with getting minutes ahead of Rickey Green to worry about MVP voting; wouldn’t get the voters attention until 1988.

Kevin Johnson (1989) – Went from being Mark Price’s back-up in Cleveland to finishing two spots ahead of him in MVP voting. This is an oft-forgotten stud.

(And if you’re wondering why he even cracks this list, just know that every record that Paul has approached recently – like highest assist average in their first series, for example – are records held by KJ)

Gary Payton (1991) – Rookie with Kemp and Co. in Seattle; wouldn’t crack the voting until ’94.

Jason Kidd (1996) – Didn’t land a vote in his second season. But get this: Some wise-cracking writer gave him a third-place vote in his rookie year (’95), and thus, that guy had the distinction of being the only person to give Kidd an MVP vote prior to ’98.

Steve Nash (1997) – Read Stockton, John… and replace the name “Rickey Green” with the names “Jason Kidd and Kevin Johnson;” Nashy wouldn’t get an MVP vote until 2002, but of course, he made up for that later, winning two.

So basically, no PG in the history of the game has finished as high as Paul at his age. Crazy. I mean, we're talking about not only some of the best point guards to ever play, but some of the best players to ever play. Do I really need to go on about how amazing that is?

Nash was another PG who scored MVP votes this year. He had four fourth-place votes, and six fifth-place votes, to finish ninth overall. Utah’s Deron Williams, who certainly won’t be a stranger to MVP votes by the time he’s done, had four fifth-place votes.

By position: Point guard – 3; Shooting guard – 2; Small Forward – 5; Power Forward – 6; Center – 1. 17 players earned votes.

ALSO SEE: MVP Final Voting Totals