**OFFICIAL NBA MOST VALUABLE PLAYER (MVP) THREAD**

Originally Posted by CP1708


How come every team in the league, almost every player in the league, and pretty much ever announcer in the league truly fear Kobe when their team plays them, but then they try to backtrack and say that Paul is the MVP? I don't wish to discredit Paul, dude is a beast. He has been awesome this year. The point I'm getting at is that all these guys talk thru the whole game hoping and praying and wondering when Kobe will take over and beat their team, and when they announce Paul's game, I have yet to hear one announcer say that he is going to win this game for the Hornets. Not one player ever mentions fearing Kobe, or he's the greatest. Ask players about Kobe and while they don't like him, they know not to mess with him, or get on his bad side because they know they'll get lit up.

Napier last night in the Kings game said at halftime the Kings have to feel pretty good, but we all know Kobe hasn't tried to do anything yet. First possession of the second half, 10 seconds in, Kobe hits all net and he says simply "uh oh". Game was over from that shot on.

Last week against the Blazers, Kobe put them down and came out of the game we thought for good. Blazers made a run, Kobe came back in, dropped 7 points and an assist in 37 seconds, game was over again.

Vs Dallas, he was doubled a million times, over the years when people said he wasn't the MVP because he didn't trust his teammates and just shot through a triple team, this game, he let's Odom and Gasol space the floor, makes the correct play to whichever guy had a better lane, and they came back and won the game after trailing by 14.


If at the end of next week the only thing people can hold against Kobe is the game vs the bobs and the Grizz and that's their case for why he isn't the MVP,
smh.gif

So your argument is that since Kobe is fear and CP is not, then Kobe should win the MVP??? This is like your seventy-sumthin justification for why Kobeneeds to be MVP. Just let it go, your stressing this MVP too much.You can make legit and rational arguments for both players, so there is no point of goingback and forth for both players.

I guess that reason #798 for ya......
 
This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

What CP3 has done with that team is amazing. I understand that the cast around him is great but he makes them better. Who the hell was david west before CP3?We all knew paja was good but his play this year reminded us of how great he can be. He made tyson chandler into an all star snub.

Now I like kobe. I really do. But I don't think he made andrew better. Andrew did it on his own during the summer time. Same with Farmar and sasha. Idon't want to discredit kobe at all because he has still found his teamates when they were open and they have hit big shots.

I really just don't know. I don't see how people can just say this person should win. Kobe, CP3 and KG all have valid cases.

If kobe loses I won't be upset. Its a tight race. I believe the winner of fridays lakers/NO game will determine the winner of the MVP race. If kobe wantsit this year he should go take it to CP3 and the hornets while keeping the team involved.

Right now IMO

1a. CP3
1b. Kobe
3. KG
4. Duncan
5. Stat/Lebron
 
tupac003 : probably the most levelheaded Laker fanI've seen on here. I'm sure there's more, just saying...I agree with everything word for word.

When people don't pick Kobe as the greatest for every possible aspect of basketball there is does not mean its an indictment of Kobe. It just means thatthere are others playing basketball that are actually good and can be mentioned in the same sentence as Bean.
 
To say it belongs to no one other than Kobe, is stanatry

Its like saying Chris Paul or KG should not even be considered in the discussion.
 
Originally Posted by WILLINC

To say it belongs to no one other than Kobe, is stanatry

Its like saying Chris Paul or KG should not even be considered in the discussion.
Agreed. Who said that?
 
Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

What CP3 has done with that team is amazing. I understand that the cast around him is great but he makes them better. Who the hell was david west before CP3? We all knew paja was good but his play this year reminded us of how great he can be. He made tyson chandler into an all star snub.

Now I like kobe. I really do. But I don't think he made andrew better. Andrew did it on his own during the summer time. Same with Farmar and sasha. I don't want to discredit kobe at all because he has still found his teamates when they were open and they have hit big shots.

I really just don't know. I don't see how people can just say this person should win. Kobe, CP3 and KG all have valid cases.

If kobe loses I won't be upset. Its a tight race. I believe the winner of fridays lakers/NO game will determine the winner of the MVP race. If kobe wants it this year he should go take it to CP3 and the hornets while keeping the team involved.

Right now IMO

1a. CP3
1b. Kobe
3. KG
4. Duncan
5. Stat/Lebron

Agree with EVERY sentence you said except for it coming down to that ONE game. I still believe whoever leads their team to the # 1 record in the Westshould get it. If Hornets stay atop, Paul should get it. If the Lakers, take that # 1 seed, Kobe should get it.

I'm just glad it was a actual Kobe fan who said what you said because that's EXACTLY how i feel but i know if i were to post that, it'll be becausei'm being a "hater."
tupac003: probably the most levelheaded Laker fan I've seen on here. I'm sure there's more, just saying...I agree with everything word for word.

Definitely.

As of now, it's Chris Paul then Kobe.
 
Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

If CP3 wins I won't be upset, because its a very close race. I'm very interested to see how the media votes this year.

But should nobody be upset if Kobe does win, and CP3 loses? Since its a very close race, I don't think anyone should be upset if that happened too. ButI know whoever wins, people will say one of the two got 'robbed'. You can't honestly be mad if CP3 or Kobe wins, but people will be mad if theperson they think should win, doesn't win.
 
Originally Posted by presequel

Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

If CP3 wins I won't be upset, because its a very close race. I'm very interested to see how the media votes this year.

But should nobody be upset if Kobe does win, and CP3 loses? Since its a very close race, I don't think anyone should be upset if that happened too. But I know whoever wins, people will say one of the two got 'robbed'. You can't honestly be mad if CP3 or Kobe wins, but people will be mad if the person they think should win, doesn't win.

If CP3 or KG takes it I will feel better.

I don't know if I can say the same if Lebron wins it.
 
Originally Posted by presequel

Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

If CP3 wins I won't be upset, because its a very close race. I'm very interested to see how the media votes this year.

But should nobody be upset if Kobe does win, and CP3 loses? Since its a very close race, I don't think anyone should be upset if that happened too. But I know whoever wins, people will say one of the two got 'robbed'. You can't honestly be mad if CP3 or Kobe wins, but people will be mad if the person they think should win, doesn't win.
I think i will be upset only for the fact that i TRULY believe that whoever's team is # 1 in the West should win it. So say if Paul won it overKobe, and Kobe's Lakers are the # 1 seed, i would feel Kobe got robbed and vice versa.
 
Originally Posted by OneTrust

Originally Posted by presequel

Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

If CP3 wins I won't be upset, because its a very close race. I'm very interested to see how the media votes this year.

But should nobody be upset if Kobe does win, and CP3 loses? Since its a very close race, I don't think anyone should be upset if that happened too. But I know whoever wins, people will say one of the two got 'robbed'. You can't honestly be mad if CP3 or Kobe wins, but people will be mad if the person they think should win, doesn't win.
I think i will be upset only for the fact that i TRULY believe that whoever's team is # 1 in the West should win it. So say if Paul won it over Kobe, and Kobe's Lakers are the # 1 seed, i would feel Kobe got robbed and vice versa.


What if the two teams tie?
laugh.gif



Like they have same record, AND season series is even.

Obviously one of the teams will be #1 via tiebreaker....but thats like who has better record vs conference or division or whatever.....but in the endthey're still tied.
 
Originally Posted by presequel

Originally Posted by OneTrust

Originally Posted by presequel

Originally Posted by tupac003


This MVP vote is going to have a lot of people upset. To be honest no kobe fan/ Laker fan should be upset if kobe doesn't win it this year.

If CP3 wins I won't be upset, because its a very close race. I'm very interested to see how the media votes this year.

But should nobody be upset if Kobe does win, and CP3 loses? Since its a very close race, I don't think anyone should be upset if that happened too. But I know whoever wins, people will say one of the two got 'robbed'. You can't honestly be mad if CP3 or Kobe wins, but people will be mad if the person they think should win, doesn't win.
I think i will be upset only for the fact that i TRULY believe that whoever's team is # 1 in the West should win it. So say if Paul won it over Kobe, and Kobe's Lakers are the # 1 seed, i would feel Kobe got robbed and vice versa.


What if the two teams tie?
laugh.gif



Like they have same record, AND season series is even.

Obviously one of the teams will be #1 via tiebreaker....but thats like who has better record vs conference or division or whatever.....but in the end they're still tied.
laugh.gif
You got me there...THEN i wouldn't have no way to reallyjudge it except to base it on numbers and anything historic these two have done this season, etc.
 
[h1][/h1]
[h1]Why Kobe won't win the MVP [/h1]

By Scoop Jackson

Last week, my partner in crime wrote a column about how uncomfortable she will be when Kobe Bryant receives the 2008 MVP award. Well, no disrespect to Jemele (Ms. Hill to those of us who know her), but Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP this year. And if recent history proves consistent, he might finish behind Alonzo Mourning in the voting.

Truth is Kobe Bryant will never win the MVP of the league. He is hated too much. Hated by those who cast votes. Hated too much by those he plays against. And the two All-Star Game MVPs he's won, well, they don't count in this scenario. Voting Kobe as the best basketball player in the world for a day is one thing, honoring him with that same title for an entire season … in the infamous words of Bobby Brown's ex-wife: "Oh, hell to the No!"

Writers won't honor Kobe like that, not even when in good consciousness they want to or would like to. As one writer said to me when the subject was brought up in conversation, very apropos for an election year, "Kobe's electability quotient is zero." In other words, he's Ralph Nader.

How is hate justified? Easy, by being consistent. Which is why this year will be no different than the past two. Because if we are honest (and this goes to Jemele's point), if we look at what Kobe Bryant has done in the past two seasons without winning the MVP, there should be no way he can win it this year. Which leads us back to the hate: A man averages 35.4 ppg, the eighth-highest average in the history of the league; he gives you 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals; he has 27 games of 40-plus points, has one month where he averages 43.4 ppg, scores 81 in one game and outscores an entire team in another (the 62-point game against Dallas where he sat out the fourth quarter); he is on the all-defensive first team (something not one of the other players in the MVP running is included on); and he leads a CBA-built team to the playoffs. The man has a season that no one is likely to see for another generation and he comes in fourth in the MVP voting that year.

That same man, the very next year, averages 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals for the "fedora trick"; he has 10 games of 50-plus points, only the second person in NBA history to do so in a single season (including a four-in-a-row stretch that hadn't been seen in more than 20 years); he makes the all-defensive first team again; and this time he takes a YBA-built squad to the playoffs. In a season that many claim is more "complete" than the season before, the man this time comes in third in the MVP voting.

How bad is it for Kobe? In a 2004-05 season in which Kobe averaged 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists, P.J. Brown -- yes, you read right -- received more MVP votes than he did, and Brown received only one vote. How many games did the Hornets win that year? 18.

(And it's not just the sportswriters. In that never-to-be-seen-again 2005-06 season, the GMs around the league, who have their own MVP voting, had Bryant fifth on their ballots.)

And nothing is going to make this season any different.

So yes, there is an "earned the right" clause that goes on in all MVP voting, just as there is that same "clause" that exists in all professions and walks of life. But it will not apply to Kobe Bryant. Not this year or any other year. He's not Denzel, and this isn't "Training Day." And although there are those who say that Kobe is in a different place now, that the world does not "resent" him the way that it did, that the Colorado incident is behind him and that the Kobe who wears No. 24 is different than the one who wore No. 8, their delusion will only make the situation worse. For it brings false hope. In sticking with the Academy Awards analogy: Kobe Bryant is Martin Scorsese … before "The Departed."

So the reality is this: As nice -- and I mean nice in a This-dude-is-on-some-beyond-Steve-Nash level -- as Chris Paul's game has been all season long (his full name during broadcasts and highlight shows has become "MVP candidate Chris Paul") his season can't compare to Kobe's past two. Yes, he's elevated his team to a height that no one expected, but can you name one player on the Lakers (not including Kobe) over the past three years who is as good or has played as well as David West has this season? Hell, name one who has played as well as Peja Stojakovic or Tyson Chandler.

Plus how will the voters justify not giving CP3 the MVP in a season when his numbers are better than Nash's were the two seasons he got back-to-back MVPs? Paul's 21.5 points, 11.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.5 turnovers are better in totality than the 15.5, 11.5, 3.4, 1.0 and 3.3 Nash put up in 2004-05 and the 18.8, 10.5, 4.2, 0.8 and 3.5 he posted during the 2005-06 season. And CP's team is in position to do what Nash's team did when he came back to Phoenix: earn the top seed in the West. So if Nash won 62 games and the West in '05-06 with inferior numbers to Paul's, how does the league not give Paul the award if his team wins 60 and has the best record in the West?

And trust, CP3's electability is off the charts compared to Kobe's. His MVP approval rating is sic, while Kobe's is sick. So Chris, congrats, enjoy the Maurice Podoloff. The voters love you.

And that's not necessarily because of who CP (or KG if you want to toss him into this conversation) is as much as it is because of who Kobe is: the "8" they love to hate. Someone less understood than a villain, and someone for whom those who vote have less tolerance when it comes to separating what he does from who he is. It's the same reason why upon eligibility into the Hall of Fame, Roger Clemens will receive more first-ballot votes than Barry Bonds. It will have more to do with how much more Roger was/is/remains beloved than Barry by those who will have the power to vote them into immortality than it will race or the level of crime either one committed while playing.

Is it right? Fair? Impartial? No. It's life. And for Kobe, it's become his life.

In sports, in the end, whether we want to acknowledge it honestly or not, athletes put their legacies in the hands of those who have the power to hate them. And in those situations, what they do on the court or field, whether we are talking MVP or Hall of Fame (or Oscars), what they do takes a backseat to who they are. Their careers become a popularity contest, a "likability" raffle lying in wait for the hate to die. Which it never really does. And in the past five years in professional sports, no athlete (with the exception of maybe Bonds or T.O.) has been more hated and hated on than Kobe Bryant.

Don't believe me? Watch what happens when he doesn't win the MVP … again.

Scoop Jackson is a columnist for Page 2.

Link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080407&sportCat=nba
 
Originally Posted by Kidskillz858


[h1][/h1]
[h1]Why Kobe won't win the MVP[/h1]

By Scoop Jackson

Last week, my partner in crime wrote a column about how uncomfortable she will be when Kobe Bryant receives the 2008 MVP award. Well, no disrespect to Jemele (Ms. Hill to those of us who know her), but Kobe Bryant will not win the MVP this year. And if recent history proves consistent, he might finish behind Alonzo Mourning in the voting.

Truth is Kobe Bryant will never win the MVP of the league. He is hated too much. Hated by those who cast votes. Hated too much by those he plays against. And the two All-Star Game MVPs he's won, well, they don't count in this scenario. Voting Kobe as the best basketball player in the world for a day is one thing, honoring him with that same title for an entire season … in the infamous words of Bobby Brown's ex-wife: "Oh, hell to the No!"

Writers won't honor Kobe like that, not even when in good consciousness they want to or would like to. As one writer said to me when the subject was brought up in conversation, very apropos for an election year, "Kobe's electability quotient is zero." In other words, he's Ralph Nader.

How is hate justified? Easy, by being consistent. Which is why this year will be no different than the past two. Because if we are honest (and this goes to Jemele's point), if we look at what Kobe Bryant has done in the past two seasons without winning the MVP, there should be no way he can win it this year. Which leads us back to the hate: A man averages 35.4 ppg, the eighth-highest average in the history of the league; he gives you 5.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 steals; he has 27 games of 40-plus points, has one month where he averages 43.4 ppg, scores 81 in one game and outscores an entire team in another (the 62-point game against Dallas where he sat out the fourth quarter); he is on the all-defensive first team (something not one of the other players in the MVP running is included on); and he leads a CBA-built team to the playoffs. The man has a season that no one is likely to see for another generation and he comes in fourth in the MVP voting that year.

That same man, the very next year, averages 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.4 steals for the "fedora trick"; he has 10 games of 50-plus points, only the second person in NBA history to do so in a single season (including a four-in-a-row stretch that hadn't been seen in more than 20 years); he makes the all-defensive first team again; and this time he takes a YBA-built squad to the playoffs. In a season that many claim is more "complete" than the season before, the man this time comes in third in the MVP voting.

How bad is it for Kobe? In a 2004-05 season in which Kobe averaged 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists, P.J. Brown -- yes, you read right -- received more MVP votes than he did, and Brown received only one vote. How many games did the Hornets win that year? 18.

(And it's not just the sportswriters. In that never-to-be-seen-again 2005-06 season, the GMs around the league, who have their own MVP voting, had Bryant fifth on their ballots.)

And nothing is going to make this season any different.

So yes, there is an "earned the right" clause that goes on in all MVP voting, just as there is that same "clause" that exists in all professions and walks of life. But it will not apply to Kobe Bryant. Not this year or any other year. He's not Denzel, and this isn't "Training Day." And although there are those who say that Kobe is in a different place now, that the world does not "resent" him the way that it did, that the Colorado incident is behind him and that the Kobe who wears No. 24 is different than the one who wore No. 8, their delusion will only make the situation worse. For it brings false hope. In sticking with the Academy Awards analogy: Kobe Bryant is Martin Scorsese … before "The Departed."

So the reality is this: As nice -- and I mean nice in a This-dude-is-on-some-beyond-Steve-Nash level -- as Chris Paul's game has been all season long (his full name during broadcasts and highlight shows has become "MVP candidate Chris Paul") his season can't compare to Kobe's past two. Yes, he's elevated his team to a height that no one expected, but can you name one player on the Lakers (not including Kobe) over the past three years who is as good or has played as well as David West has this season? Hell, name one who has played as well as Peja Stojakovic or Tyson Chandler.

Plus how will the voters justify not giving CP3 the MVP in a season when his numbers are better than Nash's were the two seasons he got back-to-back MVPs? Paul's 21.5 points, 11.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 2.5 turnovers are better in totality than the 15.5, 11.5, 3.4, 1.0 and 3.3 Nash put up in 2004-05 and the 18.8, 10.5, 4.2, 0.8 and 3.5 he posted during the 2005-06 season. And CP's team is in position to do what Nash's team did when he came back to Phoenix: earn the top seed in the West. So if Nash won 62 games and the West in '05-06 with inferior numbers to Paul's, how does the league not give Paul the award if his team wins 60 and has the best record in the West?

And trust, CP3's electability is off the charts compared to Kobe's. His MVP approval rating is sic, while Kobe's is sick. So Chris, congrats, enjoy the Maurice Podoloff. The voters love you.

And that's not necessarily because of who CP (or KG if you want to toss him into this conversation) is as much as it is because of who Kobe is: the "8" they love to hate. Someone less understood than a villain, and someone for whom those who vote have less tolerance when it comes to separating what he does from who he is. It's the same reason why upon eligibility into the Hall of Fame, Roger Clemens will receive more first-ballot votes than Barry Bonds. It will have more to do with how much more Roger was/is/remains beloved than Barry by those who will have the power to vote them into immortality than it will race or the level of crime either one committed while playing.

Is it right? Fair? Impartial? No. It's life. And for Kobe, it's become his life.

In sports, in the end, whether we want to acknowledge it honestly or not, athletes put their legacies in the hands of those who have the power to hate them. And in those situations, what they do on the court or field, whether we are talking MVP or Hall of Fame (or Oscars), what they do takes a backseat to who they are. Their careers become a popularity contest, a "likability" raffle lying in wait for the hate to die. Which it never really does. And in the past five years in professional sports, no athlete (with the exception of maybe Bonds or T.O.) has been more hated and hated on than Kobe Bryant.

Don't believe me? Watch what happens when he doesn't win the MVP … again.

Scoop Jackson is a columnist for Page 2.
Wow....I never knew that.

Scoop has a point about CP3. His numbers are better then Nash's numbers duing his MVP seasons. If he gets them to #1 in the west NOBODY should have aproblem with CP3 winning it.

If they tie...
roll.gif
World War 3 will start.
 
Scoop hit the nail on the head (waits for BullsRepeat to come in and refute this)
 
And there you have it for those who have said if Kobe doesn't win it this year, he never will. He could average 40 a game, with 10 assists, 10 rebounds,win 75 games, all defense, and still probably get fourth. Yeesh.
laugh.gif
 
I honeslty don't see what more he has to do to win MVP.
If he doesn't win this year, I doubt he ever gets it.

But really, Steve freakin Nash won 2 MVPs, really?
Kobe had 22 1st place votes the the 05-06 season, but he finished in 4th
eyes.gif


And this
How bad is it for Kobe? In a 2004-05 season in which Kobe averaged 27.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists, P.J. Brown -- yes, you read right -- received more MVP votes than he did, and Brown received only one vote. How many games did the Hornets win that year? 18.
Damn son.

I really, really don't care if Kobe wins MVP or not,(I hope he gets that Finals MVP though
wink.gif
)
But I just don't see what he has to do to win the MVP.
 
Kobe has definitely been robbed, no question. IMO, he could've gotten it last year or the year before. But coming in 5th on the ballot? Giving PJ Brown avote ANY year? WOW.

But when they gave it to Malone just because they got tired of giving it to Jordan, I knew it was a joke.
 
Monday, April 7, 2008
[h1]Ding column: Bryant's genes, work led him here[/h1]
kevin.ding.jpg

KEVIN DING

Register columnist
NBA
[email protected]




You know Kobe Bryant's father played in the NBA. His mother's brother did, too. Looking back on it, you might say the genes preordained that he would be a basketball maven.

That, however, would be glossing over the work he has put in to maximize his considerable potential. And if you really want to talk about genetic potential, consider this never-before-told story:

Bryant's maternal grandmother, Mildred, went to West Philadelphia's Overbrook High School with Wilt Chamberlain.

"He asked her to the prom," Bryant said, smiling. "But she shot him down. She was dating my grandpa."

Just imagine … Bryant with Chamberlain blood! Crazy, huh?

"Bizarre," Bryant said. "That's kind of cool, though."

As it turns out, Bryant scored more points in high school than a certain other Pennsylvania schoolboy called "The Stilt" anyway. Then he actually came within shooting distance of Chamberlain's epic scoring. Yet only in this season, with Bryant surrendering the league scoring lead to LeBron James, has he achieved more than long-shot standing for the NBA's MVP award.

How did Bryant get here? Because Jerry Buss kept a poker face and Mitch Kupchak kept his cool, Andrew Bynum grew up and Pau Gasol jumped out of that giant gift cake, Lamar Odom stayed healthy and Derek Fisher reminded that having a trusted friend around is priceless.

He is here because Phil Jackson knew just how much Bryant could want to run away before eventually missing certain comforts of home, and he is here because media MVP voters know it's no longer chic to hate on Kobe, clearly the best player in the game.

Ask former critic Shaquille O'Neal. Upon being solicited recently for his MVP vote, O'Neal answered: "The Kobester."

But Bryant is also here because of Mildred's man, Bryant's maternal grandfather. John Cox died in 2001 - affecting Bryant more than he expected - and when Bryant had his second daughter five years later, she was named Gianna, the Italian feminine form of John.

He was not Wilt Chamberlain, but John Cox was the man in many other ways. While Bryant was growing up in Italy, Grandpa Cox was the one who sent Bryant stateside-produced videos of NBA stars for him to study, fueling Bryant's love for the game. That process also established Bryant's work ethic in basketball, which only this season got fully transmitted to a group of teammates.

And that's where this MVP award should be won - with all due respect to what Chris Paul, Kevin Garnett and James have done this season.

However others around the globe viewed Bryant's manic offseason, the important thing was that his Lakers teammates believed that his harsh words rose out of rich soil, not dry dirt. He wound up telling them he wanted to win a championship again, pure and simple - which they understood.

And so Bryant did the sort of thing he has always done - work - yet with more of an eye toward how it affected those around him. Listen closely to Jackson's performance review: "Just measuring what the team needs and how to get it done and including his teammates."

Even though the Lakers are playing at a faster pace this season, Bryant is down to 20.9 shots per game this season - only slightly higher than the 20 he averaged in the Lakers' three championship seasons. Two years ago, he took 27.2 shots per game.

The less he has shot, the more he has thought. He has made it a tradition that postgame showers are a place for honest, analytical discussions with teammates. As the sweat from the Feb. 29 loss in Portland was replaced by steam, Bryant was quoting the team's exact, ugly 3-point tally and promising that next time the Lakers would take away certain Trail Blazers' favorite shots.

On Wednesday, by doing what Bryant already had in mind then, the Lakers avenged that loss to Portland. And more than an hour after that game ended, there was Bryant … just getting to his Range Rover in the Staples Center tunnel, the last Lakers employee to leave the office.

Even though Bryant came to doubt it, this is how he wanted to do it all along - rebuilding the Lakers from the ground up. Hard work, indeed, but just the kind that John Cox, Philadelphia firefighter, always undertook with a stone face - including that summer when he visited Bryant in L.A. to close the rift between Bryant and his parents.

If Minnesota had accepted Bynum and Odom for Garnett last summer, no way would it have felt like this.

Bear in mind why Bryant changed his number (and would have changed it if the league had let him for that first Shaq-less season that crash-landed in the lottery): because he wore No. 24 as a freshman on the Lower Merion High varsity team that went 4-20.

Three years of work later, Bryant brought that team a state championship and won every national prep MVP award.

It has now been three years since Bryant and the Lakers struggled to that 34-48 record. Bryant has worked before - but never quite worked this way.

It's the work of the NBA MVP.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Link:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/kobe-bryant-la-2013406-lakers-nba
 
For example two years ago when Amare went down all the sports writers said the suns were done, theres no way they can compete. Forgetting they had the MVP steve nash, marion an all star, coach of the year in d'antoni, 6th man in barbosa... So when the suns played great the writers said "Man we were wrong lets give him his second MVP trophy because we messed up
Hold up here.

I hate to say this but this is a bad example.First off that year in the playoff the Suns were taken to game 7 by the Lakers and were one Tim Thomas shot awayfrom getting upset in the 1st round.The next round they had a hard time and the Clippers also took them to a game where Raja Bell hit some big 3's just forthem to even make it to the WCF where they ended up bowing out to the Mavs.

Bottom line is that Nash may have won his second MVP which a lot people feel he didnt deserve to win and his season and the Suns season ended in failure.
 
Originally Posted by Mamba MVP

Scoop hit the nail on the head (waits for BullsRepeat to come in and refute this)
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I just want to see what you guys say when Kobe does win the award this season.

Probably accuse some of the voters for unwillingly picking Kobe or some $+*!
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