Nash officially named MVP

The official announcement came during halftime of ABC’s NBA playoff telecast, two days after the league’s worst-kept secret was widely reported.

Nash, who helped the Suns tie a franchise record for wins this season, edged Miami Heat center Shaquille O’Neal for the award. It was a close vote: Nash received just 34 more points than O’Neal from a panel of 127 sportswriters.

"I didn’t know what sportswriters knew until they voted on this award," Nash joked at a press conference.

At 6-foot-3, Nash became the third shortest MVP in history. He is the first Suns MVP since Charles Barkley in 1992-93 and just the fourth point guard in the award’s history.

"I feel really proud," he said.

The Suns posted just 29 victories in 2003-04, but the offseason acquisition of Nash from the Dallas Mavericks sparked a 33-win turnaround, and the team finished with the NBA’s best record at 62-20 this season.

Nash averaged a league-leading 11.5 assists and 15.5 points during the regular season — both figures well above his career numbers. Under his floor generalship, Phoenix scored a league-best 110 points per game.

And the point guard’s work is not done.

The Suns completed a four-game sweep of Memphis last Sunday — their first playoff series win in five years — to advance to the Western Conference semifinals, where they will face the Dallas Mavericks beginning Monday.

Nash’s playoff numbers are not far removed from his regular season statistics: 11.3 assists and 15.0 points in four games.

"We’ve still got a lot to accomplish," he said.

O’Neal averaged 22.9 points and 10.4 rebounds in his first season with Miami, leading the Heat to 59 wins — tops in the Eastern Conference and tied for second in the league with San Antonio.

The Heat, who lost to Indiana in the second round of last year’s playoffs, completed a first-round sweep of New Jersey last Sunday and are currently facing the Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Dirk Nowitzki — Nash’s old teammate in Dallas — finished third in the voting. San Antonio’s Tim Duncan was fourth and Allen Iverson of Philadelphia came in fifth.