It's truly remarkable that a player's performance efficiency-wise could be so impressive that she was the clear favorite to win MVP despite a different player leading the league in scoring and rebounding.
Congrats to Nneka. Well deserved.
Chamique Holdsclaw in 2002 led the league in both points and rebounds, and lead the Mystics to the ECF. She didn't even make 1st team WNBA... Not only that, she finished 4th in MVP voting!!
Yup and Lauren Jackson also did it in 2007 (she won MVP that year).Are you sure? I'd swear I heard the announcers saying Tina was the first one to do it.
Chamique Holdsclaw in 2002 led the league in both points and rebounds, and lead the Mystics to the ECF. She didn't even make 1st team WNBA... Not only that, she finished 4th in MVP voting!!
I had Parker tied with Diana for 8th on my list, behind the top 4, plus Stewie, Angel, and Sue.While I am quite content with Nneka's MVP award, I will not be a happy camper of Parker gets First Team WNBA over Stewie. Here was the MVP voting tally:
2016 WNBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG VOTING RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Points
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles 31 6 2 — — 362
Tina Charles, New York 8 17 13 1 — 267
Maya Moore, Minnesota — 11 19 8 1 197
Elena Delle Donne, Chicago — 5 3 20 9 119
Candace Parker, Los Angeles — — — 6 12 30
Breanna Stewart, Seattle — — 1 3 10 24
Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta — — 1 1 3 11
Tamika Catchings, Indiana — — – 1 1 4
Sue Bird, Seattle — — — — 1 1
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix — — — — 1 1
Nneka Ogwumike Named 2016 WNBA Most Valuable Player Presented By Samsung - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA
So: Parker (30 points) came in 5th in the voting, far behind EDD (119) and barely ahead of Stewart (24).
I really don't know on what basis Parker's season can be considered better than Stewie's, unless you give a lot of weight to the fact that the Sparks had a much better record than the Storm. Stewie had a significant edge in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and FT%. Parker's only clear category was in assists. But somewhere you have to factor in turnovers, which was the category in which Parker led the league.
While I am quite content with Nneka's MVP award, I will not be a happy camper of Parker gets First Team WNBA over Stewie. Here was the MVP voting tally:
2016 WNBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG VOTING RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Total Points
Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles 31 6 2 — — 362
Tina Charles, New York 8 17 13 1 — 267
Maya Moore, Minnesota — 11 19 8 1 197
Elena Delle Donne, Chicago — 5 3 20 9 119
Candace Parker, Los Angeles — — — 6 12 30
Breanna Stewart, Seattle — — 1 3 10 24
Angel McCoughtry, Atlanta — — 1 1 3 11
Tamika Catchings, Indiana — — – 1 1 4
Sue Bird, Seattle — — — — 1 1
Diana Taurasi, Phoenix — — — — 1 1
Nneka Ogwumike Named 2016 WNBA Most Valuable Player Presented By Samsung - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA
So: Parker (30 points) came in 5th in the voting, far behind EDD (119) and barely ahead of Stewart (24).
I really don't know on what basis Parker's season can be considered better than Stewie's, unless you give a lot of weight to the fact that the Sparks had a much better record than the Storm. Stewie had a significant edge in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and FT%. Parker's only clear category was in assists. But somewhere you have to factor in turnovers, which was the category in which Parker led the league.