ESPN Radio’s morning mouthpiece Colin Cowherd has today proclaimed the Clippers are far and away the more talented team compared to the Suns, and the only reason Phoenix has gotten this far is their anti-war, soccer-loving MVP point guard.
Characterizing the rest of the Suns roster as “a collection of end tables and lava lamps”, Cowherd described Shawn Marion (above) as “a guy who’s been vertical his entire NBA career, but all he can do is jump,” going so far as to say “put him on the Knicks and they’ll win 12 games.” That’s a hell of a statement considering New York won 22 games last season.
I’m not going to debate Nash’s MVP credentials in this space, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to characterize the rest of the Suns lineup as “garbage”. Cowherd is correct in claiming that Nash’s teammates have never accomplished much prior to playing with him, but some of that credit is surely due to Mike D’Antoni. Elton Brand’s put up good numbers his entire career but never won a playoff game prior to the addition of Sam Cassel ; yet Cowherd isn’t nearly as quick to label the Clips a garbage team.