Maybe it hasn't happened in the NBA. I know at least one Super Bowl MVP was on the losing team. I know Wade deserves it right now, but a strong argument could be made for Dirk. He obviously carries more of a burden than Wade. He's the Mavs' only consistent scoring option, and everyone knows it.

No chance Dirk gets it since Wade's numbers are better than Dirk's.

I don;t know who the last to do it, but I know Jerry West won the MVP in defeat.

I can't believe Dirk needed 17 in the 4th to tie the game up, and 18 to win it.

And no surprise to anyone that has been watching Dallas post-season basketball for the last 5 years, Jason Terry was 0-4 in the fourth.

I dont see it ever happening in the NBA. It would take a Chamberlain type performance in a seven game series where the winning team had no dominant star.

Chuck Howley was named MVP of Super Bowl V after the Cowboys lost a close game. He had a great game in one of the uglier Super Bowls ever.

I'm pretty sure Jerry West is the only person to do it so far.

Nowitzski had a chance, but Wade's performance combined with Dirk turning the ball over at the end of game 3 and then missing the game-tying shot probably killed that possibility.

Why would you ever award an MVP to a member of the losing team? I look at the award as more of a "who was the best player in the series that led their team to victory", and not a "who had the best stats in the series" award.

If Dirk put up 50 pts/game and the Mavs got swept, does that mean he deserves the MVP? I say no.

Dirk's numbers are solid, but not unfathomable, so I put the chance of him getting MVP in a losing effort at 0%.

On a side note, I think this playoffs is once again proving in the NBA that depth is not as important as super stars. The Detroit Pistons of a few years ago are one of the few teams I can think of that won it with a balanced team and quality depth.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

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On a side note, I think this playoffs is once again proving in the NBA that depth is not as important as super stars. The Detroit Pistons of a few years ago are one of the few teams I can think of that won it with a balanced team and quality depth.

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Detroit had a great 1-5. Corliss Williamson was their only bench player to average over 3.7ppg in the playoffs, and he had a whopping 5.7ppg.

The other year that stands out is 2003. THe best player in the Finals was Tim Duncan, but Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin were probably #2, 3 and 4.

Pretty much every year, it is all about the stars. This year, Miami has three of the top 4 players in the series, including the top two players. That's a ton to overcome, and it isn't like Dallas has the most ridiculously awesome role players ever.

The Mavs are deeper on paper, but they aren't playing that way. Their bench has been pretty bad this series heretofore.

Here's the wikipedia story of Jerry West winning the 69 Finals MVP despite losing. LA had never beat the Celtics in the playoffs and had lost to the them in the Finals 5 out of 7 years. If Dirk goes out in game 7 like West did then there will be popular sentiment to give him the MVP but I doubt it happens. More likely Lebron and Wade get co-MVPs if Lebron goes off in the final 3-4 games like he did in Chicago then they give the MVP to the loser

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In the 1969 NBA Playoffs, the 55-win Lakers disposed of the Atlanta Hawks and the San Francisco Warriors, setting up the sixth finals series versus Boston in eight years. Prior to Game 1, West privately complained to Bill Russell of exhaustion, but then the Lakers guard scored 53 points on Boston in a close two-point win.[29] L.A. also took Game 2, with West scoring 41 points.[30]

In Game 3, Russell decided to double-team West, and the guard's exhaustion finally took its toll: West asked twice to be subbed for longer periods, and both times the Lakers fell back by double digits and finally lost by six points.[29] Game 4 saw Celtics guard Sam Jones hit a lucky off-balance buzzer beater to tie the series,[30] but in Game 5, the Lakers struck back and won by 13 points; however, they suffered a major blow when West – who scored 39 points and by far led all players in scoring during the entire series – lunged for a meaningless late-game ball and seriously pulled his hamstring: it was immediately visible that the injury would not heal until the end of the series.[29] A limping West scored 26 points in Game 6, but the Celtics won by 99–90 with a strong Bill Russell, who held Chamberlain to only eight points in the entire game.[30]

In Game 7, Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke had put up thousands of balloons in the rafters of the Forum in Los Angeles. This display of arrogance motivated the Celtics and angered Jerry West.[26] The Lakers trailed the entire game and were behind by 15 in the last quarter, but powered by a limping West, the Lakers came within one point with two minutes to go and had the ball. But West committed costly turnovers and L.A. lost the game 108–106 despite a triple-double 42 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists of West, who became the first and only winner of the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award from the losing team.[30] After the loss, West was seen as the ultimate tragic hero: after the game, Bill Russell held his hand, and John Havlicek said: "I love you, Jerry".[29]

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[This message has been edited by InternetFan02 (edited 6/7/2011 9:53a).]

It is really hard to envision a Finals MVP trophy going to someone on the losing team. Its not the 60s anymore and people don't buy into "sentimental" favorites the way they used to.