Hall of Famer Steve Nash knows all about the NBA MVP debate.
He won the award twice during the 2000s with much controversy while playing for the Phoenix Suns. In an interview with FlashScore, Nash made his pick for MVP.
"I would say Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). You know, total respect to [Steph] Curry," Nash said. "I know I'm going to forget someone, but Jalen Brunson's been amazing. There's so many terrific guards out there. But Shai right now for me is, I think he's the MVP this year. I think he's just an incredible leader for his team (Oklahoma City Thunder). Great high character, 30 points a game, high efficiency, impossible in isolation to defend. So I would say Shai."
NEW KOBE DOC SET
NBA Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant's credentials show he was a great basketball player.
He was also a great person.
Nothing displays this more than the new ESPN documentary "Eight On Eight" that shows his kind side. The film is a rehash of a story from 2021 written by ESPN's Jerry Bembry.
"It started a year after Kobe died," Bembry said. "When we [ESPN] did the Last Dance with Michael Jordan, I did a story "23 for 23" and just found these 23 incredible stories about Michael Jordan. So when Kobe passed away, I went to my editor and said, `We should do something with Kobe."'
In the article, Bembry caught up with eight people who had inspiring interactions with Bryant before he died in a helicopter crash in 2020. One story about him meeting a terminally ill five-year-old boy who was named Kobe surfaced after Bryant's death. Another focused on his relationship with a Toronto sports broadcaster.
All of them show Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, was more than just a basketball player.
"He did a lot of things away from basketball that people should know about," Bembry said. "I started doing some research. It was a really busy month but I found these incredible stories. It goes from a written story in 2021 to the documentary that got released in February."
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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