Six vie for MVP honors

Dirk Nowitzki led a short-handed Dallas team into San Antonio and scored 30 points, carrying the Mavericks to a huge victory in the Western Conference playoff race.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich afterward called it "an MVP performance."

So is Nowitzki the NBA's most valuable player?

To answer that question in this year's crowded race, you first need to tackle the tougher one: "What is an MVP?"

The best player? The most important player on a winning team? The one whose team could least afford to lose him?

Any way you look at it, as many as six players seem to have a case why they should be the winner.

LeBron James scored 37 points when Cleveland went to New Jersey and snapped the Nets' league-best 14-game winning streak. In his next game, he made the game-winning basket with 0.5 seconds left to beat the Hornets.

"LeBron had a spectacular year, which has really helped our team take the next step," Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said.

Nowitzki and James are far from the only worthy candidates in what is shaping up as one of the deepest MVP fields in years. There's plenty of support for Steve Nash, last year's winner in Phoenix, as well as Chauncey Billups of Detroit and Miami's Dwyane Wade.

And don't forget Kobe Bryant's choice: Kobe Bryant.

"I'd vote for myself," the Lakers star said with a smile.

And if he couldn't?

"I wouldn't vote at all."

The people who will vote have until the day after the regular season to get their ballots in, and they may want to wait right up until the deadline to sort through the choices.