Nowitzki named MVP

May 15, 2007, 16:25 GMT

Dallas, TX - The NBA announced on Tuesday that Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been named the Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season.

The first European and first Maverick to win the award, Nowitzki led Dallas to a league-best 67-15 finish this year, the most victories in franchise history. Despite a stunning loss to Golden State in the first round of the playoffs, the voting to make Nowitzki MVP occurred immediately after the regular season.

'It's hard for me to be happy because of the way the season ended, with the postseason, but this is an award for the regular season and I'm proud of it,' said Nowitzki.

Nowitzki denied former teammate Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns his third straight MVP. Nowitzki received 83 first-place votes and 1,138 total points in the balloting, while Nash earned 44 first-place votes and totaled 1,013 points.

Nash was looking to join Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as the only players to win the award three years in a row.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers garnered two first-place votes and finished third in the voting with 521 points. San Antonio's Tim Duncan was fourth with 286 points.

In 2006-07 Nowitzki averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and a career-best 3.4 assists while again setting career highs in three percentages (field-goal, three-point and free throws). Not only that, but the Mavs were dominant when he was at his best. The team went 18-1 when he scored 30-plus points and he had 41 double-doubles.

'This award is not just for me, I've never been one to care about individual awards,' Nowitzki added. 'My teammates are as much a part of this award as I am.'

The 28-year-old Nowitzki finished the season highly ranked in several categories, including 10th in scoring, tied for 11th in rebounding and tied for second in free-throw percentage.

Also, he finished the season as the only player to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free throw line.

A six-time All-Star selection, Nowitzki finished the 2004-05 and '05-06 seasons third in the MVP voting.

Selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft and then dealt to Dallas, Nowitzki has averaged 22.3 points in nine seasons, all with the Mavericks.

© 2007 The Sports Network