More often than not, the NBA MVP race is fairly straightforward.

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo cemented his place as league MVP last season. And despite a hard charge from LeBron James, looks to be en route to his second consecutive MVP this year.

Other seasons are so miraculous that they dominate the narrative. Think Stephen Curry during the 2015-16 season or Russell Westbrook's triple-double season.

All of the Best Players Have Been ‘Snubbed'

However, there are always those who argue certain players were “snubbed.” The greatest players always seem to have been “snubbed” at least once or twice.

For instance, plenty of fans believe Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan was robbed of MVPs in 1993 and 1997. Charles Barkley won the 1993 MVP after leading the Phoenix Suns to the best record in the NBA. But Barkley also was nearly 26-12-5 that year and he helped lead the Suns to nine more wins than the year prior.

Malone's case in 1997 was less convincing. Yes, he averaged over 27 points, close to 10 rebounds and 4.5 assists. But Jordan averaged nearly 30 points, six boards, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals. All while also leading the NBA in value over replacement player (VORP) and leading the Bulls to a league-high 69 wins.

In a more modern context, some fans will argue LeBron James deserved the 2010-11 MVP over then-Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose. After all, James had a 7.8 VORP to Rose's 6.7, and he had an additional 2.5 win shares on Rose despite the Miami Heat losing more games that year.

But it is hard to argue against what Rose did. Especially considering the Bulls were without Carlos Boozer for a large part of that season and had a shooting guard tandem of Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer.

Just a few years before Rose became the youngest MVP in NBA history, however, former Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash earned the title of “most undeserving” MVP.

Back-to-Back Sham

Firstly, it should be said that Nash won his first MVP award in 2005 after helping lead the Suns to 62 wins. Just one year after they had won only 29 games. But even this MVP was questionable.

Nash led the NBA in assists (11.5), but Suns teammates Amar'e Stoudemire and Shawn Marion actually had more win shares than Nash. The veteran point guard was not in the top five in either win shares or VORP.

But there were those who felt Nash unlocked Phoenix's full potential after joining the team the previous summer. And he helped orchestrate head coach Mike D'Antoni's offensive system to perfection. So, fine, Nash gets that one.

But despite putting up better numbers during the 2005-06 season, Nash's MVP victory is even more egregious.

Once again, Nash failed to land in the top five in either VORP or total win shares. More consequently, the Suns also lost eight more games than the previous season.

Other NBA Players Posted Ridiculous Seasons

Meanwhile, other players around the NBA were having spectacular years.

In just his third season, LeBron averaged 31.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists while leading the NBA in VORP. James also led the Cavs to eight more wins. Oh, and he did all of this at 21 years old.

Out West, Kobe Bryant was putting up a Herculean effort for one of the least talented Los Angeles Lakers teams in recent memory.

Kobe averaged an absurd 35.4 points to go along with 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 assists while dragging the Lakers to the playoffs. Yes, he had a ridiculous usage rate (38.7 percent), but he also shot relatively efficiently (45 percent) from the field on a career-high 27.2 field goal attempts per game.

There were other notables as well. Kevin Garnett led the NBA in rebounding (12.8) while also averaging 22.4 points, 4.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.7 blocks. Dirk Nowitzki averaged 26.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists and led the league in win shares while also helping the Dallas Mavericks to 60 wins.

Dwayne Wade also blossomed during the 2005-06 season, averaging 27.2 points, 6.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals while shooting close to 50 percent from the field. Wade anchored the Heat with Shaquille O'Neal missing 23 games due to injury. And the season later culminated in a championship as Wade produced one of the best individual performances in NBA Finals history.

Needless to say, there were plenty of other better, more noteworthy performances that deserved recognition over Nash during the 2005-06 season.

Interestingly enough, Nash's best season of his career would come the next year, when he averaged 18.6 points to go along with a career-high 11.6 assists and a .613 effective field goal percentage. Both of which led the NBA.