May 1st, 2008 – Dr. Browntorious
Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant?
This will be the only time I write about the potential candidates for MVP, as the award gets too much hype and generally isn’t as important to the players as it is to the media. First off, there are only two real candidates this year. Anyone who thinks otherwise (ahem…read Dr. J-Water’s lunatic ramblings here), should sit back and really think about what the title “Most Valuable Player” means.
So what does “MVP” mean? Here are my thoughts on the qualities it takes to be an MVP:
1) Player that makes his team-mates better
2) Player that puts aside his own statistical potential to win games
3) Player that performs day in and day out, leading his team to victory
4) Player is a dominant force on both ends of the floor
5) Without this player, the team no longer is a legitimate title contender
The above five qualities consistently get incorrectly translated into statistical categories such as most assists, most points, most steals, most rebounds, most blocks etc. I hate when analysts use these metrics to judge the above. But without team wins, the statistics don’t mean anything. For this reason, Lebron James is not in the category for MVP this season. Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul and Kobe do satisfy this most important requirement. Unfortunately for Kevin Garnett as good as the Celtics were this season he’s not a legitimate candidate because he is playing alongside two future Hall of Famers in Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Without Garnett the team would still consistently win ball games, and even proved that this year winning a high percentage while Garnett sat out due to injuries. In my view this leaves us with only two legitimate MVP candidates this year, Chris Paul or Kobe Bryant.
I’ve read numerous blogs and newspaper articles praising Chris Paul, saying that he is the most deserving of the Maurice Podoloff trophy because he took a young team of David West and Tyson Chandler, who didn’t make the playoffs in 2007, to one of the best records in the Western Conference in 2008. What those articles fail to mention is a well known veteran sharp shooter named Peja Stojakovic, or veteran box score stuffers Bonzi Wells and Mo Peterson. This team has a stellar proven starting line up in Tyson Chandler, Peja, Mo-Pete and West. While Chris Paul may have made these players slightly better, the key difference from last year is New Orleans hasn’t had any injury problems in 2008. Yes, CP led the league in assists and steals and averaged above 20 ppg, and statistically that’s great. Quite often this year this has translated into getting his players involved and it has translated into leading his team to victory on numerous occasions. But does he make his team-mates better? Not convinced. Many of his team-mates aside from David West were already proven starters and stars in this league. Some would even argue that David West has flown under the radar for the last few years as a big time scoring threat. Maybe it should be Hornets GM Jeff Bower that receives the MVP for putting together this squad? Out of the 5 qualities I listed for what makes an MVP, I give him a 3.5-4. The reason why I consider him a 3.5 opposed to a four is all relative, it’s because I know that his team didn’t play with a variety of injuries, as Kobe Bryant’s Lakers did. He hasn’t had to adjust multiple times to the revolving door in the starting line-up all year like Kobe has.
Kobe Bryant, the Black Mamba. For the last three to four years his name has been floated around with the contenders for the MVP award. He has yet to win it. He led the league in scoring last year, even had an 81 point performance, but did not lead his team to victory day in and day out. His statistics in assists, steals and points were amazing…but again, if you are not able to lead your team to victory day in and day out, get your players involved and make everyone better around you, you do not win this trophy.
So what happened?
Kobe, the ultimate competitor hated losing, so he complained about his team, management, coaches, and even threatened to leave the Lakers if there weren’t some major changes. I’m not defending these actions, as they were truly childish. However, the Lakers management did an excellent job of convincing Kobe to stay the course and let the young talent they had assembled around him develop and grow. Then this year everything changed. Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabaar helped to develop the young Andrew Bynum off the court, and Kobe made him better on the court. If Bynum did not go down to injury he would have likely won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award. This kid is only 20 yrs old, 285 pounds, 7’1” and has the potential of becoming the most dominant center in the league in a few years time. Kobe Bryant somehow through his magnificent playmaking and leadership kept the Lakers consistently winning without Bynum and in the absence of a true threat in the paint.
Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton, both those guys have significantly improved this year. Much of this is due to Kobe’s improved sharing of the ball and trust in his team-mates to knock down wide open looks when he penetrates and kicks. The Chris Paul supporters will probably point to the acquisition of Pau Gasol as the reason for the Lakers success. But as good as the Lakers are with Gasol in the line-up, when Gasol went down in late March to a lower ankle sprain, Kobe proved once again he can lead his team consistently to victory without a dominant big man. Kobe Bryant did not miss a game this year, and played through multiple injuries including a fractured hand. The only game he actually sat out was the 2008 All-Star game to heal his various injuries for the good of the team, which can be argued as one of the most unselfish acts of the year. All throughout the year the Lakers have dealt with injuries to key players (Bynum, Gasol, Mihm, Ariza, and Walton). The one thing that has remained constant this season is Kobe Bryant’s amazing play and the success of the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to the best record in the tough Western Conference, probably the toughest playoff race in league history. Can you think of even one legitimate factor from this regular season that can put Chris Paul ahead of Kobe in this two horse race? If so let me know, as I’m stumped. My vote goes to Kobe Bryant for the 2008 NBA MVP. It’s about time!
