Insider Special: MVP Watch

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NBA MVP Watch: Why is Marbury hardly mentioned?

by Terry Brown

Friday, January 3 Updated 10:58 AM EST

It's my job to tell you that Stephon Marbury doesn't belong on this list because he scores too much. Or maybe it's because he doesn't score enough. Er, because he kicked his wife, um, girlfriend, er, mistress out of his house last summer buck naked and then went after her with a gun tucked in his sagging jeans.

Sorry. Wrong 6-foot-or-so, diamond-studded, tattooed and tabooed NBA player with his won video game and rap career on the side.

Allen Iverson has shot 41.2 percent from the floor in his career. Marbury has shot 42.8.

But the real reason Marbury isn't on this list is because of his overbearing, self-centered presence in the locker room with an ongoing grudge against upper management.

Oops. Wrong trash-talking point guard with a clean-shaven dome and chip on his shoulder.

Gary Payton, the league-leader in assists per game this season, has averaged 7.4 assists per game over his career. Marbury has averaged 8.2.

But the real reason Marbury isn't on this list is because year after year he gets injured at critical moments and, at one point, had to scrap an entire season because of an old re-occurring college wound.

Dang it. Wrong slick-dribbling, high-scoring, no-look passing shooting guard who's managed to keep his point guard position because there really isn't anyone better on his team at scoring or passing.

Baron Davis once averaged 18.1 points per game in 2002 for his career high. Marbury has averaged 20.1 points per game over his entire career.

But the down-right honest to goodness truth is that Marbury isn't on this list because fewer than 125 regular-season games ago, the guy smashed his way through the bathroom door of his family's home to get to his wife who had already dialed 9-1-1 to tell authorities that her husband was at it . . . again.

Woops. Wrong player traded from New Jersey to Phoenix or the other way around.

In the second year of his MVP candidacy, Kidd is responsible for 38.7 percent of his team's output after averaging a career-high 20.8 ppg and 8.7 apg for the Nets, who average 98.7 points per game, this season. Marbury is also responsible for 38.7 percent of his team's output (19.5 ppg and 7.9 apg of Suns' 91 ppg).

But the fact of the matter is that Marbury has failed to lead a team loaded with fine, young talent and well-balanced skills from around the globe into the upper echelon of NBA play.

I know. I know. That would be Andre Miller, last season's league leader in assists per game, who has been front and center while the Clippers have nose-dived to last in the Pacific Division with a 12-18 record.

All Marbury has done is push the Suns to 20-12 and the fourth-seed in the Western Conference. Heck, against the Eastern Conference, the Suns are 11-3 compared to Kidd's 14-5, Iverson's 12-6, Davis' 10-7 or Payton's 8-7 in the same backyard as Marbury.

The reason Marbury isn't on this list . . . is because . . . well . . . I'll have to get back to you after I do lunch with his PR agent.

The Top 10 Contenders

1. Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

Numbers: 21.6 ppg, 6 rpg, 8.7 apg, 2.1 spg, 0.3 bpg, 46% field, 40% three, 88% line

Beef: For his next trick, his last being the 21.9 points per game in November and current one being the 25 threes made in only 13 games and 56 attempts in December, Kidd will rub his tummy, pat himself on the head and, while scoring, hitting threes and leading the Nets to the top of the Eastern Conference, lead the entire league in assists any game now.

2. Chris Webber, Sacramento Kings

Numbers: 22.9 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 5 apg, 1.6 spg, 1.6 bpg, 46% field, 12% three, 57% line

Beef: He's scored more points earlier in his career, grabbed more rebounds, stole more balls and blocked more shots while shooting better from the field, from long range and most certainly from the free throw line. But watch him play and there is either something more to his game, something, shall we say, soulful beyond statistics. Or he's got us all fooled. Again. I lean toward not being a fool. Again.

3. Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic

Numbers: 30.1 ppg, 6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.5 spg, 1 bpg, 46% field, 38% three, 81% line

Beef: Would you still love him if he wasn't leading the league in scoring?

4. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

Numbers: 22.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg, 1 bpg, 44% field, 37% three, 86% line

Beef: In a weird kind of way, kinda hoping Michael Finley or Steve Nash would twist an ankle or a wrist ever so slightly for just a short period of time just to see what Dirk could do rather than what Dirk should do while trying to guess what Dirk would do . . . but Dirk's the only one of the three who's missed any games and Dallas is 1-1 without him.

5. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

Numbers: 21.6 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 5.6 apg, 1.48 spg, 1.48 bpg, 45% field, 37% three, 77% line

Beef: Starting to think that if he focused on one statistical category in some sort of sideshow kind of way, he could lead the entire league in whatever field he chose. Maybe even two. So no matter how hard Amare Stoudemire slams the ball and screams on the widescreen TV in the comfort of your own home, comparisons to the Kid just wouldn't be fair to the kid.

6. Steve Francis, Houston Rockets

Numbers: 23.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 6 apg, 1.6 spg, 0.4 bpg, 44% field, 45% three, 79% line

Beef: I can only hope that all this attention for Yao Ming is somehow causing NBA fans to see and appreciate what the little guy is doing. One of them is 1' 2" taller and growing. The other is averaging only 1.3 rebounds less and shrinking.

7. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Numbers: 22.7 ppg, 12.8 rpg, 3.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 2.8 bpg, 48% field, 37% three, 67% line

Beef: Fashionably late, I see. But nonetheless nice of the reigning MVP to join the party.

8. Gary Payton, Seattle Sonics

Numbers: 21.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 9.1 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.3 bpg, 46% field, 32% three, 71% line

Beef: Statistically, GP is responsible for 42.8 percent of his team's output (18.2 ppg and 9.1 apg of Sonics' 92.8 ppg). It only seems like 99.9 percent. But to reduce his impact on the game through the use of decimal points does him great disservice.

9. Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics

Numbers: 25.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 4.4 apg, 2.1 spg, 0.9 bpg, 38% field, 26% three, 80% line

Beef: Less may be more in this player's case but we may never know because of circumstances beyond all of our control that could lead to bad habits . . . which would be a shame for me, you, Paul and the game, itself.

10. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Numbers: 26.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 7.2 apg, 2 spg, 0.8 bpg, 44% field, 31% three, 81% line

Beef: For all his brilliance, still six consecutive wins from serious consideration.