Nowitzki's bittersweet day

DALLAS — In a most unusual setting for an MVP coronation, Dirk Nowitzki tried to grin but could barely embrace the moment as the subdued celebration could not escape the shadow of a playoff collapse.

Wearing a navy, pinstriped suit and flanked by Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, coach Avery Johnson and NBA Commissioner David Stern, Nowitzki was gracious, yet clearly still hurting as he accepted the league’s most coveted individual honor.

"At this stage right now, I feel it’s a little hard for me to be happy," Nowitzki said. "This is an award for the regular season, and that's the way I've got to look at it, and I'm extremely proud."

Then Nowitzki, the first Mavericks player and first European-born player to win the MVP, stated the goal that's always meant the most to him, but so far has eluded him.

"I want to win the NBA championship," he said.

The MVP award is typically presented on the championship trail, in front of the recipient's home crowd during the conference semifinals.

But for the first time in 25 seasons, the MVP is out after one series. Stern instead presented Nowitzki the trophy in a banquet room at American Airlines Center filled with cheering Mavs employees and several teammates.

Nowitzki received 1,138 points, including 83 of the 129 first-place votes. Phoenix's Steve Nash finished second with 1,013 points and 44 first-place votes, his two-year MVP reign ending.

Kobe Bryant of the Lakers was third, followed by San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Cleveland's LeBron James.

Nowitzki expressed a sense of accomplishment, recounting a long haul of hard work that he began as a doubt-filled rookie in a foreign land. But the first-round playoff debacle — as he called it — has, at least for now, dulled the magnitude of being the MVP.

"Even when I heard that I was the MVP [Thursday night], I was still sad," Nowitzki said. "To watch all these playoff games now and to know we're not a part of it, it is just heartbreaking to me."

Nash left Nowitzki a congratulatory voicemail Friday. Nowitzki said he didn't return the call because he didn't want to disturb his best friend in the middle of a heated playoff series with the Spurs.

"I’m excited for him," Nash said. "He's obviously not the happiest camper right now, but he deserves it, and I think he should really enjoy this and allow this to kind of heal an unfortunate first round. Because he did have a great year and worked hard for it."

Most believed the Mavs would be facing Nash and the Suns, or the Spurs, in the West finals. Instead, Nowitzki is facing a national firestorm of negativity.

Cuban wiped away tears as he defended Nowitzki's determination and heart.

"He's not the guy you have to encourage to get in the gym. He's the guy you have to lock out of the gym," Cuban said. "He's not the guy who you wonder if he cares. He's the guy that hurts so much when things don't go the way he wants. And that's what makes him an MVP."

Stern described Nowitzki as an "iconic, elite athlete from Europe who has not only learned to play our game, he's mastered it."

Nowitzki paced the Mavs to a 67-15 record, tying the sixth-best mark in NBA history. He led the team in scoring (24.6) and rebounding (8.9), and averaged a career-high 3.4 assists.

He was the only player in the league to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from the 3-point arc and 90 percent from the free-throw line.

Nowitzki praised former coach Don Nelson, who engineered Golden State's shocking upset of the Mavs, for allowing him to play an unconventional game for a 7-footer early in his career. And he credited Johnson for molding him into a more well-rounded player.

"I try to get him to understand who he is and how I see him," Johnson said. "He's a great player and there's a great level of responsibility that goes along with that."

Nowitzki, in a most unusual MVP campaign, understands.