- Since everyone else is giving their MVP vote, we may as well jump in. It all depends how you view the award, I suppose.
If it's given to the best player in the league then Kobe or LeBron should win.
If you view the award literally as if you took one player off their particular team, how far would that team fall, then Chris Paul or LeBron should win.
If you view it as which player completely altered the shape and course of their franchise then Kobe or Garnett should win. Or Hinrich.
That being said, Kobe gets my vote. When Vince Carter bitches, he gets traded and franchise becomes obsolete for a few years. When Kobe does it, you trade Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol, and motivate a center who is as old as I am to turn himself into one of the league's best big men about three years quicker than expected. Is Chris Paul possibly the coolest player of the post-MJ Era? Yes (along with Nash). Tough cookies. You know CP3 (great nickname, by the way) is awesome if he can turn Tyson Chandler into one of the league's best big men. He'll have another chance some day, but this one still goes to KB24 (not as cool).
What's really strange is that LeBron put up significantly better stats and plays the same position as Kobe, but he'll finish in third or fourth. I'm not sure if this is an original idea or not, but when LeBron wins his first MVP, there's good chance no one else is getting one for about 10 years. That run will probably start when his best teammate isn't named Boobie.
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Comments
I think you have to go with Kobe or CP3. I was leaning towards LeBron most of the year, but the Cavs have fallen off a bit, and the Lakers and Hornets battle in an elite conference. Plus CP3 and Kobe have helped improve their teams dramatically while the Cavs have fallen.
Now the reason Kobe edges Paul in my opinion is two reasons.
1. Kobe has played hurt. Now I know this has been downplayed, but having a torn muscle in your pinky has gotta be tough to deal with. I remember a couple games after the break where Kobe struggled a bit, but he seems to be coping with it now.
2. Kobe has no equal. What I mean by this is, CP3 has been beaten one-on-one and team wise to Deron Williams and the Jazz all season. No one player ever gets the best of Kobe more than once.
Have to agree - Kobe is the MVP. CP3 winning wouldn't bother me, either. Seriously, aren't his stats just as impressive as Nash's MVP years, but Paul's team has actually done it in the most competitive conference in a long time, and without the two All-NBA teammates (Amare and Marion)?
I would be really pissed if LeBron won - not because he doesn't deserve - he's been amazing for a bad team - but because a player on a 45-team win shouldn't be in the running for MVP, if history is any indicator.
Kevin Garnett might win it (never underestimate the Boston media), but he already has an MVP, his numbers weren't that great this year, and Boston is in a weak conference. Plus, he has an All-Star squad with him: Ray Allen (like 7 All-Star games?), Paul Pierce (what, 5 appearances), and bench guys like James Posey. That team would have still won 45 games without KG in the Atlantic....