NBA: Nash front-runner for MVP again

The last two MVP races have ended with Steve Nash on top, with his pal Dirk Nowitzki two spots behind.

As the NBA schedule reaches its midpoint, it looks as if another race is shaping up that will feature those two right at or near the top.

Or maybe, just as he has with a number of games lately, Gilbert Arenas will win at the end.

Nash and Nowitzki, the best players on the two best teams in the league, are the most obvious and probably the strongest candidates. But plenty of support has been building in an amazing turnaround for Arenas, the Washington guard who this time last year was about to get snubbed for the All-Star game, only making it to Houston as an injury replacement.

This time, Arenas even has other MVPs touting his candidacy.

“We have to really start giving (Arenas) serious consideration for the MVP,” Magic Johnson said Monday on TNT. “I don’t want anyone to slight him this year. We know Dirk, we know Steve Nash, we know Kobe, we know LeBron and of course the guy from the Miami Heat. But Gilbert has been (winning games) all season long.”

But even Arenas acknowledged that it will be tough to unseat Nash, who is trying to join Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Larry Bird as the only players to win three MVPs in a row. Besides his sensational playmaking ability, the Suns guard was averaging 19.6 points on 53.2 percent shooting, both career-highs.

“Right now, Steve Nash is above everybody,” Arenas said. “You have to really do something dramatic in this league. If Kobe averages 35 with an 81 and he didn’t get it, you have to do something else in this league to overtake what Steve Nash has done.”

Dallas thinks Nowitzki is the one to do it. They reached their halfway point at 33-8 behind 25 points and 9.5 rebounds per game from the German forward. That included a season-high 43-point outing last Friday at Indiana, when he shook off an injured ankle to rally Dallas to an overtime victory.

Kidd comes back

Besides being one of the best floor leaders in the NBA, Jason Kidd is also one of the league’s top defensive guards.

The latter might be even more important for the U.S. national team. Kidd is being added to the team and will be in camp this summer.

Knicks passed on Artest

As bad as their team is now, a decision made years ago still bothers most passionate Knicks fans.

That was back in the summer of 1999, when those fans wanted the Knicks to draft St. John’s star Ron Artest. And yes, New Yorkers, Artest wanted that, too.

Artest was probably the best player available when New York picked at No. 15. But the Knicks passed on him to select French center Frederic Weis, who never played a minute of an NBA game for them.

Wolves suspend Davis

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ricky Davis was suspended for one game because he left the bench and went into the locker room during Friday’s 104-98 double-overtime loss to the Pistons in Minneapolis.

Baron Davis suspended

Golden State guard Baron Davis was suspended one game without pay by the NBA for taking a swing at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Quinton Ross.

The incident came with 1:47 left in the Warriors’ 115-109 loss to the Clippers on Wednesday night.