Ballots for the MVP awards haven't been sent out yet, which is just as well.

With five weeks left in the NBA season, I haven't settled on the winner, because no one has emerged to lock up the honor. Forget the Oscars, handicapping the MVP race might be as difficult as forecasting how the top eight teams will finish in the East.

Down the stretch, I'll be looking at what these players are doing to help their teams win:

	Kidd

Jason Kidd. Because of his all-around play, the Nets might go from the lottery to first place. Even if the East is a shambles, which it is, how many times has that ever been done before? Some people are writing off Kidd as a candidate because he's shooting 37.8 percent. Baloney. I know it's a million years ago, but Bob Cousy won the MVP in 1957 shooting 38 percent -- which also happened to be his career shooting percentage. Forget Kidd's shooting and remember the one stat that counts. The Nets' record. At one point, they were on a pace to win 56 games, which would have been their highest total since coming into the NBA. They've never won big but they are now, mainly because of his presence at both ends of the floor. The downside to Kidd's candidacy? Recently, they've lost six of seven games and he didn't do anything to stop the bleeding. In fact, in those six losses he shot only 32 percent. Bottom line: He's the best candidate the East has to offer, but for the most part, I skew my voting towards the candidates in the better conference.

	O'Neal

Shaquille O'Neal. Call him the Big Unappreciated. Unless he's going up against Brad Miller, we often take Shaq for granted. But in his nine games before Tuesday's encounter with Charlotte, he averaged 32.5 points and 11.2 rebounds a game. If he continues to tear up the league and the Lakers finish atop the West, he'll get the vote here. The best player on the best team in the best conference always does. Shaq's problem? He raised his own bar in 2000 and hasn't reached it since. When he won his first MVP two years ago, everyone but Fred Hickman saw how he dominated like never before, finishing first in seven offensive categories, leading the Lakers to 67 wins and justifiably coming closer to a unanimous MVP than anyone else in the history of the game. This season, he's also going to be hurt by the fact that he's missed 13 games. The Lakers are only 7-6 in those, giving you a pretty good idea of what they're missing when he's not on the floor. Isn't that part of what an MVP is all about?

	Jordan

Michael Jordan. If the voting went on juice alone, what he brought back to the league in terms of ratings and sellouts would be worth a few hundred ballots. Until he went down to a knee injury, he was definitely in the hunt for MVP No. 6. In his first season back since 1998, Jordan has been surrounded by the worst collection of talent he's ever played with. (Go check the early Bulls teams Jordan played on and they're better than this collection). Have you ever seen so many backups? He's 39 and after a three-year layoff, his athleticism has gone downhill. But taking that all into account, he was still scoring fairly easily and had the Wizards playing .500 ball with a solid shot to make the playoffs. But I can't give it to a guy who will end up missing perhaps 16 games. Jordan would probably agree, too. In the five years he won the MVP (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) he missed only two games total. The MVP has to show he's the best, night in and night out. And if the Wiz don't make the playoffs? Jordan's got no shot.

	Iverson

Allen Iverson. Answer me this, why should I vote for Iverson this season if I didn't when he won the award last season? Iverson is still a candidate, but whether it's because the new rules have hurt him or his supporting cast got worse (yeesh), he hasn't shown the kind of dominance he did last season in leading the Sixers to 56 wins and the No. 1 seed in the East. What could help him is that he's starting to put up big scoring games (four games of at least 41 points in the last two weeks) and the Sixers have won 22 of their last 33 as they make a run to get homecourt edge in the first round. But the NBA hasn't had a player win the MVP in back-to-back seasons since Jordan in 1991 and 1992. You're telling me Iverson is as deserving, when he still hasn't reached the 40 percent mark for shooting (compared to 42 percent last season)? I didn't think so.

	Duncan

Tim Duncan. Mr. Double-Double has put 50 of those in the Spurs' first 63 games. You like to see improvement in MVPs and Duncan has been a very different player at the foul line this season. After shooting only 61.8 percent from the line last season, he's up to 81 percent. Unlike other candidates who play up front, he's on pace to play in every game, which would be the fourth time in five NBA seasons he's answered the bell every night. The downside to Duncan's chances might be the fact that against the West's elite teams -- Sacramento, Lakers, Dallas and Minnesota -- the Spurs are only 3-8. Isn't an MVP candidate expected to rise to the occasion against the best? Statistically, he has, averaging 27.8 points and 13.2 rebounds in those eight losses. But broken down game by game, he hasn't hit his regular-season scoring average of 25 points per game five times. And he's fallen short of his usual rebounding numbers (12.8 per game) on four different occasions.