NEW YORK, May 15, 2007 – Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks was named the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season, the NBA announced today.

The nine-year NBA veteran totaled 1,138 points, including 83 first place votes, from a panel of 129 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.

Rounding out the top five in voting for MVP were Phoenix’s Steve Nash (1,013 points/44 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (521 points/two first-place votes), San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (286 points) and Cleveland’s LeBron James (183 points).

Nowitzki is the first European-born player to win the NBA MVP Award and joins Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets (1993-94), Duncan (2001-02 and 2002-03) and Nash (2004-05 and 2005-06) on the list of international players that have captured the Podoloff Trophy.

The seven-foot forward led the Mavericks to the best-record (67-15, .817) in the NBA, tying for the sixth-best single-season winning percentage in NBA history. Nowitzki averaged team highs of 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and a career-best 3.4 assists while setting career-highs in field goal percentage (.502), three-point field goal percentage (.416) and free throw percentage (.904). The Mavericks were an impressive 18-1 when he scored 30 or more points.

This season marked his sixth straight NBA All-Star Game appearance and his first start in the Game, a first for a Maverick. Nowitzki was named to the All-NBA First Team for the third consecutive year.

Nowitzki was the team leader as the Mavericks became the first team in NBA history to record three streaks of 12 or more wins (12, 13 and 17) and just the fourth team ever to have three double-digit winning streaks in the same season. He was the only player in the league this season to shoot at least 50 percent from the field (.502), 40 percent from three-point range (.416) and 90 percent from the freethrow line (.904).

The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.

Attached are the voting results for the 2006-07 NBA Most Valuable Player Award:

2006-07 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD VOTING RESULTS

Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 83 39 7 - - 1138
Steve Nash, Phoenix 44 74 11 - - 1013
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 2 11 65 30 9 521
Tim Duncan, San Antonio - 3 25 39 23 286
LeBron James, Cleveland - - 11 31 35 183
Tracy McGrady, Houston - 2 6 16 18 110
Chris Bosh, Toronto - - 3 4 16 43
Gilbert Arenas, Washington - - 1 4 14 31
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota - - - 2 1 7
Carlos Boozer, Utah - - - 1 4 7
Chauncey Billups, Detroit - - - 1 1 4
Dwyane Wade, Miami - - - - 3 3
Shaquille O’Neal, Miami - - - 1 0 3
Amaré Stoudemire, Phoenix - - - - 2 2
Carmelo Anthony, Denver - - - - 1 1
Baron Davis, Golden State - - - - 1 1
Tony Parker, San Antonio - - - - 1 1

ALL-TIME NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD WINNERS

1955-56: Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1956-57: Bob Cousy, Boston
1957-58: Bill Russell, Boston
1958-59: Bob Pettit, St. Louis
1959-60: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1960-61: Bill Russell, Boston
1961-62: Bill Russell, Boston
1962-63: Bill Russell, Boston
1963-64: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1964-65: Bill Russell, Boston
1965-66: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1966-67: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1967-68: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia
1968-69: Wes Unseld, Baltimore
1969-70: Willis Reed, New York
1970-71: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1971-72: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1972-73: Dave Cowens, Boston
1973-74: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee
1974-75: Bob McAdoo, Buffalo
1975-76: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1976-77: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1977-78: Bill Walton, Portland
1978-79: Moses Malone, Houston
1979-80: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles
1980-81: Julius Erving, Philadelphia
1981-82: Moses Malone, Houston
1982-83: Moses Malone, Philadelphia
1983-84: Larry Bird, Boston
1984-85: Larry Bird, Boston
1985-86: Larry Bird, Boston
1986-87: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers
1987-88: Michael Jordan, Chicago
1988-89: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers
1989-90: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers
1990-91: Michael Jordan, Chicago
1991-92: Michael Jordan, Chicago
1992-93: Charles Barkley, Phoenix
1993-94: Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston
1994-95: David Robinson, San Antonio
1995-96: Michael Jordan, Chicago
1996-97: Karl Malone, Utah
1997-98: Michael Jordan, Chicago
1998-99: Karl Malone, Utah
1999-00: Shaquille O'Neal, LA Lakers
2000-01: Allen Iverson, Philadelphia
2001-02: Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2002-03: Tim Duncan, San Antonio
2003-04: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
2004-05: Steve Nash, Phoenix
2005-06: Steve Nash, Phoenix
2006-07: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas