Wow...This is Going to get Uncomfortable...

We haven’t had the potential for a smile this awkward since the San Diego Chargers drafted Eli Manning number one overall in 2004. Roughly a week after getting shut down by the like of Golden State’s Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Dirk Nowitzki will be receiving the league MVP award at a press conference in Dallas sometime early this week. That means that, for the first time since Moses Malone in 1982, the association’s MVP will have failed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs. The Dirty German barely beat out long time friend, ex-teammate, and two-time winner Steve Nash for the award.

For those who were skeptical if Nowitzki deserved to win it before his post-season meltdown, now is the time to remind your friends and family that you were in fact right. For Dirk, David Stern, and the league, it's time to make some tough decisions.

First, Dirk. Since no one is taking my dream situation of Nowitzki and Nash playing a game of HORSE to decide the honor too seriously, here is another opinion - refuse it. He really has to. If Dirk is looking for a way to get his team back on track, there is no better way then putting their success in front of his own. He needs to say that he didn’t live up to his billing as MVP and that next year he’s going to work twice as hard to not only win the award again, but to finally break through and bring the city of Dallas an NBA championship. This would excite the fans and his teammates as well as hopefully help them recover from some of the psychological damage that this year’s playoffs might have caused. If he wants to keep this team together, it is simply the best option.

As far as Stern and the league are concerned, Dirk’s vote for MVP started out as a dream come true. Here was a white European player – two of the association’s most sought after demographics – who also leads his team, has a complete game, never gets into trouble, and is good representation of a player with tremendous passion for the game. Then Dirk disappears in game one of his series with the Golden State and everyone realizes “Whoa, the Warriors might actually win this thing.” A week later that nightmare became a reality. Now Stern is left wondering whether or not the sportswriter’s votes are cast a bit too early and whether the post-season should play some role in that decision.

It's hard to say whether or not we should wait on the MVP vote until after a round or two of the playoffs simply because, as much as we don't like it, the MVP is a regular season award; for the playoffs we have the Finals MVP. Still, would we be saying the same thing if the Lakers had knocked out Steve Nash and the Suns last year - a good possibility after going up 3-1 in the first round? Thankfully Nash pulled off nothing short of an MVP performance and saved face for himself, his team, and the NBA. After two straight years, Stern needs to come up with some answers to solve the potential of this problem happening again. The people don’t just want to know that the man being put in the pantheon with Jordan, Wilt, Bird, and Magic isn’t a round one washout, they demand it.

Dirk has a lot of time to prove himself since he’s only 28. Still he may have squandered his best chance to etch his name in the record books by winning the championship this year. Now he has to go back to the drawing and get his team back on track. After all, he is the MVP, and another season starts soon.