Several sources yesterday revealed that San Antonio big man Tim Duncan has won the 2001-02 NBA Most Valuable Player award, edging out New Jersey?s Jason Kidd and the Lakers Shaquille O?Neal for the honor.  The award was decided by votes from 126 members of the news media and will be announced Thursday.

Duncan posted career-high numbers, averaging 25.5 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. He became only the 14th player in N.B.A. history to score more than 2,000 points (2,089) and grab more than 1,000 rebounds (1,042) in a season. He led the league in double-doubles this season, with 67.

"The important thing is the game right now," Duncan said. "We're going to try to win that one. The MVP thing will take care of itself. They've decided it and whatever happens, happens. We have to worry about trying to win this game."

"He's pretty stoic and leads by example. He pretty much keeps his thoughts to himself; he's not a cheerleader-type guy. But he's been unbelievably vocal in practices and timeouts and stuff because he realizes that people feed off him. He pulled it all together," coach Gregg Popovich said.

As information leaked into New Jersey the Nets couldn?t help but be disappointed.  After acquiring Jason Kidd from the Phoenix Suns for Stephon Marbury in an off season trade Kidd helped turn around the Nets organization, winning a franchise record 52 games after losing 56 the season before.  Kidd had been a leader this season, showing his all-round game to close out the regular season with averages of 14.7 points, 9.9 assists and 7.3 rebounds.  He also led the league in triple doubles with eight, including one in San Antonio adds Liz Robbins of the New York Times.

"I'm very disappointed about it," Rod Thorn, the Nets' president, said last night. "It has nothing to do with Tim Duncan. He's a good guy and he had a great season. But maybe I have a wrong definition of an M.V.P. I see it as a player who did more for his team than any other player in that year. Seeing what this guy has done for us, I'm very disappointed that the voters did not conclude that it was Jason."

Nets coach Byron Scott pronounced before practice yesterday that he would be named coach of the year and added it would be a slight if Kidd did not win the M.V.P. award.  Detroit Pistons coach Rick Carlisle expected to be named the NBA?s top coach later today, adding to the disappointment of the New Jersey faithful who expected more recognition for their magnificent turnaround, the second biggest since San Antonio jumped from 20 to 56 in 1997-98, Duncan?s rookie season.

"Different people have different interpretations of the M.V.P.," Thorn said. "If you talk about most outstanding individual year, with Tim Duncan, I would have no problem with that at all. If you said Shaquille O'Neal should win the M.V.P. every year because he is the best player in the league, then that's fair, since it's more to do with winning the championship. In my mind there was no player who did more for his team than Jason."