It's a rather sad statistic. In the long and rich history of the NBA, only two players crowned MVPs have never made it to the NBA Finals.
As observed by Reddit user thespecstar, Derrick Rose and Steve Nash are the only MVPs who have never made it to the NBA Finals. The user posted:
“nash made the wcf in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2010 but lost to the likes of the spurs, mavericks, and lakers. rose gets a bit iffy he was on the cavs roster earlier this season but was traded to utah at the deadline and then cut and signed with the twolves.”
To recall, Nash was part of the Phoenix Suns team helmed by Mike D'Antoni. The team took the NBA by storm. It was a high-paced offense highly-dependent on Nash's playmaking ability. It's easy to recall Nash leading the fast break or playing a two-man game with Amar'e Stoudemire.
Derrick Rose, on the other hand, had a chance to make it to the NBA Finals during his MVP year. Also, as mentioned above, if he remained with the Cavaliers, he could've experienced being in the finals for the first time in his career.
But unlike Nash, Rose's career is not yet over. He still has a few years under his sleeve. He's not the same as before. But Rose has proven that he can still produce above-average numbers.
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