Johnson’s record-breaking feat was already 24 years ago.
Such a long time is enough for a change of generation among League fans; the League needs a lot of fresh legendary stories.
However, he also had reasons for not winning the Finals MVP:
Out of the five finals games, he only played four.
Moreover, his rebellious image has always been the kind of player that David Stern found troublesome. Although he was always the one to resist, he did so quite often.
This time, he was also one of the main culprits in the "Conseco incident."
So, it’s possible that David Stern didn’t want him to get the Finals MVP.
Even though he had the backing of Nike.
But current Nike at most had media resources, seeking to contend with the will of the League’s commissioner would, at the very least, require the "Bald Era." After all, this was a time when the sneaker market wasn’t dominated by just them, and even the League’s jersey sponsor was still Adidas.
If David Stern didn’t want to give it to him, then it’s very likely he wouldn’t get it.
This kind of thing has a precedent in the League.
The Finals MVP of "Magic" Johnson’s rookie season came about in this way.
That year, Jabbar’s average stats were 33.4+13.6, while Magic only had an average of 17+10+7—Jabbar seemed to have the upper hand in any case. Yet, the final "Finals MVP" went to Johnson.
The official didn’t offer a specific explanation.
The widely circulated explanation was, Jabbar only played five games, and he didn’t travel with the team to Philly for Game 7 of the series to heal his injury. As it turned out, nobody expected Johnson to pull off a "mini Sky Hook," leading the team to take the championship on the road.
When it came to voting, the media were informed they could only vote for the players on the court.
Therefore, even though Jabbar had the better stats, the Finals MVP still went to "Magic" Johnson.
This also created the only legendary story in NBA history of a rookie winning the "Finals MVP."
Su Wan’s situation was the exact opposite of Johnson’s.
Johnson didn’t normally qualify for "Finals MVP," but encountered Jabbar’s injury.
Whereas Su Wan was the nailed-down "Finals MVP" under normal circumstances, but ran into the "Conseco incident."
But if you ask Su if he regrets it?
Su would definitely say, no!
Creating the "Conseco incident" was a lot more interesting to him than taking this year’s Finals MVP.
Of course, only for this year.
Because this year their opponents lack sportsmanship.
Defeating them didn’t bring that intense thrill of victory.
If not for considering Reggie Miller’s face, he would’ve jumped onto the scorer’s table right after the game ended and shouted at Indiana’s fans, "Wait, this year doesn’t count, in the future I’ll bring you a true O’Brien Cup!"
Moreover, the Finals MVP award, both Iguodala and "young Kawhi" had won it, in his heart, it didn’t carry the same weight as the overall championship.
Furthermore, the standards for judging a superstar’s status differ with each era.
According to the standards of the ’90s, Pippen, with six championships, wasn’t considered to have the historical status of Allen Iverson.
That era recognized the comparison between "team leaders."
But who knows when the "Finals MVP" started being a measure of a team’s leader; of course, it counts as one, but it’s not the definitive indicator.
It just so happens that most of the time, it’s the team leader who wins.
There are also special cases, taken by the second or third in command.
Like Iguodala and Kawhi, in ’15 and ’14 respectively, when they won this award, not a single person could associate it with being the leader.
Most importantly, the voters are seven senior media professionals, plus one local journalist from each of the two teams, totally nine people.
The sample size is too small.
Such voting, is the outcome really accurate every time?
Anyway, as long as it’s not LeBron James taking this Finals MVP, Su Wan would have no objections.
Whether it’s him or Reggie Miller, either is fine.
From his personal feelings, he even leaned more towards Reggie Miller receiving the Finals MVP.
It would be the most fulfilling tribute to his 17-year career.
Just that...
"The 04-05 NBA Finals MVP is...Su Wan!"
In the end, it still landed on Su’s head.
Well, it seems neither David Stern nor Nike wanted to give up the hook of "the second rookie after Magic Johnson to win Finals MVP in his rookie season"!
No wonder, it’s indeed a huge selling point.
At this time, there was no award presentation by Bill Russell.
As Su Wan took the stage after winning the Finals MVP, his first words were:
"I feel that Reggie Miller is more deserving of this trophy than I am, it’s the perfect interpretation of his 17-year career, only those who persist can transform."
"His career is also something I aspire to."
"Oh, and I don’t mean the 16 years without a championship part!"
"I mean the dedication, it’s a difficult thing, but he achieved it..."
"So for this award speech, I’d like to leave it for Reggie to deliver!"
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