Dirk deserves MVP award -- with an asterisk

Huddled in a darkened corner of the room, clutching only my laptop and my shame, I offer this column as a preemptive strike to what's coming Tuesday.

Dirk Nowitzki's tenure as NBA MVP officially begins.

In a year he was called out by D-Wade and ousted in the first round, Dirk takes the league's top honor. (Getty Images)

With it, inevitably, comes mockery.

As soon as the news becomes official, jokes and snide comments will rain down steadily from the sky as if it were Seattle.

Nowitzki? MVP? Of what? Choking?

Stuff like that.

It's going to be harsh, and it makes me want to apologize to Nowitzki myself.

I'm sorry I put him first on my MVP ballot, because had I known what was going to happen, I never would have.

Why subject someone to such a harsh fate? You would have to be cynical to give someone something of value that you know would go to waste.

It's like sending a convict spending life in prison a voucher for a free cruise, or lending a 10-year-old the keys to your Porsche for the weekend.

Nowitzki should be proud of his award. He deserves it. I can't imagine how he'll be able to hold it up proudly, though. There will be no massive crowd at the American Airlines Center for him to share it with. There will be no game to play afterward. In that regard, Nowitzki winning the MVP will be similar to Portland's Brandon Roy winning Rookie of the Year.

Of course, everyone but the Raptors play-by-play announcer voted for Roy to win Rookie of the Year. Not everyone was as sold on making Nowitzki the first European MVP in league history. The two-time defending honoree, Steve Nash, had his best season ever. Phoenix won 61 games, including the final two meetings with the Mavericks.

In the March 14 meeting, likely the best regular-season game this year, Nash scored the final 10 points in regulation to force overtime. Meanwhile, Nowitzki missed two late free throws that left the door open. It was then that the whispers intensified.