Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash has become the first Canadian to be named most valuable player of the National Basketball Association.

And in accepting his trophy on Sunday, he did it in typical self-effacing Canadian style, inviting his teammates up on stage with him.

"This has been a really incredible year for me and for our team," he told a news conference, his team standing behind him.

TSN's Farhan Lalji, speaking to CTV Newsnet, put Nash's accomplishment into perspective this way:

"You've got to compare this to Mike Weir winning the Masters (in golf), Larry Walker being named the NL MVP (in baseball), Jacques Villeneuve winning the world driver's title. In this sport, it is as big as it gets."

The South Africa-born Nash was raised in Victoria, B.C. After high school, he played college basketball in California before being drafted in 1996.

He came back to the Suns from the Dallas Mavericks and helped turn the franchise around. The Suns went from last place to the league's best record, with 62 wins.

As a result, the 127 sports writers and broadcasters gave him 1,066 points in the voting, edging out Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat by 34 points. The narrow margin was the fourth-closest ballot in the award's history.

Nash received 65 first-place votes (worth 10 points each) to 58 for O'Neil.

While Nash -- a quick-witted passing wizard -- led the league in assists, averaging 11.5 per game, he's not a prolific scorer.

The last assist leader to be named MVP was Magic Johnson in 1987.

Only six guards have won the MVP award: Legends Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Johnson and Michael Jordan. Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers, who finished fifth in MVP voting this year, has also won an MVP award.

"... Many of those MVPs in the past, I had their posters on my wall growing up," Nash added. "So it's amazing to be their peer, and something I can have a laugh at a little bit as well."

Canadians are a rare sight in the NBA. Jamaal Magloire of the New Orleans Hornets is the only other Canadian citizen currently playing in the world's top basketball league.

So how did Nash succeed?

"He did it by working hard. This is such a huge story. (It) allows every kid in Canada to say, 'Hey, this is something I can do, I can play in the NBA,'" said Leo Rautins, a Canadian broadcaster and former NBA player himself.

While saying he considered it an "incredible accomplishment," Nash said "hopefully this is incredible for everyone back home, to be proud and to be excited about."

With a report from CTV's Denelle Balfour and files from The Canadian Press