Amare: MVP?

During Wednesday night's loss to the Boston Celtics, Suns players and fans could all but join in while the Celtic following made it clear who they thought was the league's most valuable player.  As Kevin Garnett stepped to the line with 6 minutes left in the game, the crowd began chanting M-V-P, and KG preceded to go about business as usual, netting two free throws and then making his way back down the floor on defense. 

Sounds familiar to many Suns fans as they've been inclined to voice their MVP choice at every such opportunity for the two time winnner and Suns point guard, Steve Nash. 

That being said, the home crowd has been rather silent this year as Nash steps to the line, not to mention the fact that his percentage has dipped below 90% this season; we'll forgive him, but for a man who narrowly missed out on adding a third personal trophy to his mantle last season, where is the MVP talk for Steve? 

It seems to have become a race between LA's Kobe Bryant, Cleveland's Lebron James, Chris Paul of New Orleans, and KG in Boston.  But what about Nash? 

The Phoenix Suns have spent a fair amount of time atop their division, and until recently have been among the top two or three teams in the Western Conference.  So doesn't this Phoenix team have a player among them deservant of this kind of recognition?  They only have four regular season MVP trophies between them all, two apiece for Nash and O'neal, so why not add a fifth? 

Steve has had a slightly down season this year.  Not to say that he's performed poorly, and only about three other point guards in the league deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as him, but he just isn't playing at the level that he did when he was named the league's top performer two years in a row. 

One Sun who has come on strong as of late though is Amare Stoudemire.  Ever since the All-Star break, and even more so since the deal was finalized for Shaquille O'neal, Amare has been playing like a man possessed, trying to will his team to a championship. 

He is arugeably the best big man in the game, better than KG, he's playing like KG did during his best years in Minnesota but with the fierocity I've only seen from Amare himself in his earlier seasons before having arthroscopic knee. 

When Amare first came into the league he was an amazing talent, winning rookie of the year honors and continuing to perform as one of the top players in the league.  Bonzi Wells once said while a member of the Memphis Grizzlies that he, Amare, was just "too mean" to play against and that they could not win a playoff series with Phoenix because of it. 

Coming off of his injury he wasn't the same player.  He was still producing at a high level, but something was missing from his game, that edge, that swagger he used to carry himself with, it just wasn't there the way a used to be.

This season I see in Stoudemire a completely new player.  I see the same hunger, the same determination and will that a saw a few years ago, combined with a much improved skill set that has come from his time spent learning under Mike D'Antoni and the rest of the Phoenix Suns coaching staff.  He extended his shooting range to just in front of the 3-point line, he perfected his turn around, he became even more adept at finishing in traffic, his footwork and post moves improved dramatically and now, my thought is that Stoudemire, through his own maturation and with a little guidence from Shaq as of late, has really come into his own and established himself as the premier big man in the NBA. 

Stoudemire looks like a player focused on winning and producing on the basketball court in every facet of the game.  With the way Amare is playing now, if Phoenix can make up the 2 1/2 games that they've found themselves down in the Conference standings to claim the number one seed, Amare deserves serious consideration for the NBA's most valuable player award. 

Down the late season stretch he has been averaging 29 points and 9 rebounds, not to mention 2 blocks a game.  And that's sharing space in the paint with Shaquille O'neal.  It's not like #1 is the only guy who can put up numbers on this team, Amare is by no means the only star, but he has undoubtedly been shining the brightest.  And as the suns prepare to make a run at their first ever NBA title, this years possible MVP winner, Amare Stoudemire, might have sparked the beginning of a regime change for the Suns, from Nash's team to Amare's team. 

Steve Nash is still the floor general and Phoenix's on court leader, but Stoudemire may very well be the biggest key to the Suns success.  He has had his eyes on an MVP award ever since it came to Phoenix in 05 and ended up in the hands of Steve Nash.  Amare himself has said that he wants the title of League MVP and that he's coming after more than just one. If he continues to play at this level he may very well collect a number of MVP trophies, but more importantly he gives his team a chance at picking up some even flashier hardware, and that's an NBA championship ring.