Has an MVP ever lost face like Giannis just did?

[Euroleague]

Greek national team always plays better without Giannis. Giannis only helps a team, if the opponent is not even trying on defense. In a serious game, Giannis is a disaster in half court offense, and he completely dominates the ball and ruins the rhythm of his teammates.

[BigtimeNBAFan]

Dirk is the worst flameout by an MVP of my lifetime. You can't lose in the first round of the playoffs to an 8 seed if you are the MVP. I know it is a regular season award, but you should have to win at least a round in the playoffs or you really aren't that valuable.

[imdaman99]

Westbrook lost in the 1st round the year he won MVP

[FromDowntown]

Westbrook lost in the 1st round the year he won MVP

1 seed to 8 seed doe?

[FromDowntown]

Breakdown of the games... Averages are useless when he had a 7/18 22pt game and a 3/14 15pt game.

So one playoff series which consists of 4 to 7 games is too large a sample now? You're a joke my son.

[LoneyROY7]

Greek national team always plays better without Giannis. Giannis only helps a team, if the opponent is not even trying on defense. In a serious game, Giannis is a disaster in half court offense, and he completely dominates the ball and ruins the rhythm of his teammates.

The man, the myth, the legend.

The OG who saw Giannis as a complete fraud from the very beginning. Euroleague was a step ahead.

[Overdrive]

So one playoff series which consists of 4 to 7 games is too large a sample now? You're a joke my son.

If you play like utter shit in 2 loses they are on you. No matter if you got fancy averages. It isn't about sample size. In a playoff series every game is meaningful and producing 2 loses that could be wins in a series that went to 6 is the difference between advancing or not.

[WhiteKyrie]

Westbrook lost in the 1st round the year he won MVP

He didn’t deserve it either

[Facepalm]

Has an MVP ever lost face like Giannis just did?

[Turbo Slayer]

Dirk probably.

[Gray GOAT]

This gif has lost all meaning and context. Robinson got outplayed, but it's not like he scored single digits, just mailed it in and the Spurs got swept.

[Locked_Up_Tonight]

Dirk is probably the worst. But there were some extenuating circumstances for the Mavs to be that bad.

Dirk's family had a health scare going on with Dirk's dad.

Avery played a certain lineup all year. After they started out 0-4, he pushed them so hard. Which that in in of itself wasn't a problem per se but just like the way Thibodeaux pushed his teams and the ay Dantoni pushes his teams, the Mavs suffered a little burnout. And that was especially true when they had the "Little General" screaming at them when adversity arose.

And while Dampier may not have been a great center.... Avery chose to not go big against GS. He instead chose to put Devean George as the Mavs center. A lineup that they had not used all year. And that in of itself created problems on both sides of the ball because no one knew their roles with that change. And the playoffs is not the time to throw sh(t on the wall and see what sticks. Gameplan and adjustments, sure. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Not hardly.

The Mavs could not shoot at all. Dirk shot bad: 38%. But he wasn't the only one:

Terry: 42%
Stackhouse: 35%
George: 20%
Buckner: 0%
Croshere: 33%

The only one who played decent was Howard. Outside of Howard, the only one who shot decent was Harris at 49%. But Don Nelson wanted him to shoot anything outside 3 feet. He shot basically 30% on anything that wasn't a layup.

I firmly believe if Carlisle was the coach that year, the Mavs win the championship.