History's 10 most undeserving MVPs

Pity poor Dirk Nowitzki.

The guy had yet another outstanding season, leading the Mavericks to one of the best records in NBA history and now he has to apologize for being named MVP.

Perhaps the Mavericks' first-round playoff implosion shouldn't taint all that Nowitzki and his team accomplished from November to April, but it has and it will forever. Dirk Nowitzki, 2007 NBA MVP, will always conjure images of the first-ever No. 1 seed bowing to an 8-seed in a best-of-7 series.

But Dirk is in pretty good company. Here's a Top 10 list of MVPs who might not have won their hardware had the voters waited until after the postseason to cast their ballots, starting with Nowitzki.

10. Dirk Nowitzki, 2007 NBA MVP

I thought Steve Nash should have won this award for the third straight year, but I take no joy in Nowitzki's flameout against the Warriors. After a season in which he scored 24.6 points per game on 50.2 percent shooting from the floor and 41.6 percent shooting from behind the arc, Dirk scored 19.7 a game on 38.3 percent shooting from the floor and 21.1 shooting from deep against Golden State. Anyone want a do-over on their MVP vote?

9. Barry Bonds, 1990 National League MVP

No one in Pittsburgh will be cheering when Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's home run record next month. He'll always be remembered as the guy who couldn't get a hit in the playoffs and couldn't throw out slow-footed Sid Bream when it mattered. After winning his first of seven MVP awards in 1990, Bonds began his Pittsburgh postseason tradition of flopping in the playoffs by going 3-for-18 with one lone RBI in a six-game loss to the Reds in the NLCS. In 68 postseason at bats for the Pirates, Bonds drove in three runs.

8. Jose Theodore, 2002 NHL MVP

There may not be a more obscure most valuable player in professional sports history than the Canadiens' flash-in-the-pan goalie who dominated the 2001-02 season with a 2.11 goals against, a .931 save percentage and seven shutouts while carrying the Habs to the playoffs. But once there, Theodore became something of a sieve. Four times in 12 playoff games he allowed five goals, finishing the postseason with three straight losses in which he allowed 14 goals on 84 shots, an .833 save percentage. His playoff goals against of 3.09 was almost a whole goal higher than his MVP-worthy regular-season mark.

7. Steve McNair and Peyton Manning, 2003 NFL CO-MVPs

Could this have set up any better for Tom Brady? After McNair and Manning shared MVP honors they both had to come to the House that Brady Built in the playoffs. Brady dispatched them both before winning the only MVP award that matters: Super Bowl MVP. Manning threw four picks in his loss at Foxboro.

6. Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, '93 and'97 NBA MVPs

Does anybody really think anyone other than Michael Jordan was the NBA most valuable player when M.J. was in his prime? Well, on two separate occasions when Jordan was at the peak of his powers the voters deemed another player MVP. And both times Jordan met that player in the Finals. In 1993 M.J. averaged 41 points a game, pulled down 8.5 rebounds per contest and dealt out 6.3 assists a game to lead the Bulls past Barkley's Suns in six games and leave no doubt who the most valuable player in the NBA was in 1993. After the voters had another lapse in judgment and elected Karl Malone MVP in '97, M.J. posted a 31.0 ppg, 7 rpg, 6.3 apg Finals line as the Mailman was gacking clutch free throws and missing fallaway jumpers all series long. Jordan's epic Game 5 while battling the flu should have made anyone who voted Malone MVP sick with regret.

Barkley might have won the MVP award, but Jordan took home the more important hardware. ( BRIAN BAHR/AFP / Getty Images)

5. Joe Thornton, 2006 NHL MVP

After winning his first Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 2006, Joe Thornton continued his career-long habit of putting up disappointing playoff numbers. In 11 games he scored only two goals and posted a -4 plus/minus rating. After taking a 2-0 lead in their second-round series against the Oilers, the Sharks lost four straight, going out with a whimper in a 2-0 loss at Edmonton in Game 6 in which Thornton was on the ice for both Oiler goals.

4. Julius Erving, 1981 NBA MVP

Doc had a great season in 1981, averaging 24.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists. But was he really more valuable than Larry Bird who put up a 21.2, 10.9 and 5.5 line? Or for that matter were either of the Hall of Fame forwards more valuable than Rockets center (and two-time MVP) Moses Malone who was second in the league in scoring (27.8) and first in rebounding (14.8)? It would have been tough to make a case for Erving after Bird buried the game-winning shot in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Sixers and Moses carried Houston all the way to the Finals, where he lost to Bird's Celtics in six. Bird raised his game in the playoffs, scoring 21.9 a game, pulling down 14 boards a game and dishing out 6.1 assists per game. Erving dipped to 22.9/7.1/3.4. Two years later Moses would arrive in Philly to carry J to his lone NBA title.

3. Peyton Manning, 2004 NFL MVP

Manning had perhaps the greatest regular season of any quarterback ever, throwing an NFL record 49 TD passes and posting an obscene 121.1 rating. But once again his playoff run was halted abruptly in the snow in Foxboro. After leading the Colts to almost 33 points a game during the regular season, Manning could only put up three points and a 69.3 QB rating in a 20-3 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champs.

2. Mo Vaughn, 1995 American League MVP

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Vaughn's selection as MVP since Albert Belle pretty much outdid him in every category for the Central champion Indians. Belle hit .317 with 50 home runs and 126 RBI. Vaughn hit .300 with 39 home runs and 126 RBI. But, well, the voters liked Mo a whole lot more than Albert and the Red Sox slugger edged Belle, 309-300, in the voting. Vaughn then went out and laid an egg in the playoffs, going 0-for-14 with 7 Ks as the Sox got swept by Belle's Indians in the first round.

1. Alex Rodriguez, 2005 American League MVP

There was spirited debate about who deserved the 2005 American League MVP, Alex Rodriguez or David Ortiz. Their numbers were comparable and their teams finished tied so voters had to look deeper to pick a winner. A-Rod, they concluded, was a complete player while Big Papi was one-dimensional. Ortiz supporters pointed to the ultimate intangible: his clutch factor. Big Papi voters sure seemed vindicated when Rodriguez went 2-for-15 (.133), made a critical error and grounded into a huge double play in a five-game loss to the Angels in the playoffs. A-Rod, of course, would be even worse in the '06 playoffs.

Kevin Hench is a frequent contributor for FOXSports.com.