I can pardon Rose's slightly iffy efficiency because of everything else he supplied and improved. The on-court load he shoulders, along with the galvanizing effect he's had as a leader for an injury-riddled team that's exceeded all expectations, is the clinching combination here. Steve Nash, maybe the most controversial MVP of all time when he won the award in 2005, has a great description for the phenomenon at work with Rose. "When I won it [for the first time]," Nash says, "I believe it's because people saw me as the best teammate." Bingo. In other words? Nash was the most influential single teammate of the season in question -- instantly changing the culture of a 29-win team with his free-agent return to Phoenix -- just as Rose was this season. Except that Rose didn't change a culture in Chicago. He established one.