Once again, this year’s MVP decision in the NBA is highly debatable. You have a young star in Chris Paul reviving the city of New Orleans, and sitting on top the western conference; a complete superstar in Kobe Bryant awaiting his first MVP trophy; not to mention King James putting up over 30 points per game and KG helping Boston make the biggest turnaround in NBA History. But who deserves it the most?
MVP Candidate #1 – Chris Paul
This talented point guard has had his Hornets hovering at the top of the Western Conference all season. Paul has been outstanding, and is bringing strong competition to become New Orleans most beloved son aside from Reggie Bush. Paul leads the team in scoring with 21.5 points per game, and leads the entire league in assists with 11.5 per game. He also takes care of the ball, averaging just 2.5 turnovers per game. It has helped that David West has developed into a playmaker, and Tyson Chandler is finally turning into the player the Bulls had hoped he would become when they selected him with the 4th pick in the draft six years ago. Paul has been an outstanding individual player, and he is essential for this team’s turnaround, as they finished 39-43 just one year ago and failed to make the playoffs.
MVP Candidate #2 – Kobe Bryant
Kobe probably should have been NBA MVP at least once in the past two seasons; nonetheless, it’s still a trophy that he is yet to put up next to his championship tokens. Could this be the year? Finally, Kobe is learning to use his teammates, given the fact that the organization finally made a move bringing in Gasol. Overall, he is averaging 28.6 points per game along with 6.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists in each contest. Unfortunately, the Lakers dropped two games in one week to teams they should be blowing away. They were beat by 13 points against Charlotte at home near the end of March, and then fell again at home two days later to Memphis despite Kobe dropping 53. This was the perfect example of Kobe losing control and not using his teammates. Maybe he felt he had to carry the team the whole way? Sasha Vujacic did put up 14 threes in the game and only put in four of them – but he and Turiaf were the only other players do put up 10 or more shots to Kobe’s 37 attempts. Those two losses cost the Lakers the #1 seed at this point, despite going on a four game winning streak following the embarrassing losses.
MVP Candidate #3 – LeBron James
King James is an absolute freak on the hardwood. He’s the only player that can break down a defense single-handedly by doing a crossover at the three-point line and take two or three quick steps before flying through the air for a thunderous slam. LeBron is averaging an outstanding 30.2 points per game, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the season, but his Cavs remain only seven games above .500. If the MVP were solely based on statistics, LeBron would more than likely be crowned the MVP, but the fact that his Cavs are the returning Eastern Conference champs and are sitting in the 4th seed in the east drops King James behind Paul and Bryant.
MVP Candidate #4 – Dwight Howard
Frankly, I don’t think Dwight Howard is human. He is a machine, standing 6’11’ with 265 pounds of solid muscle. If you ask me, he’s the second coming of Shaq in central Florida, providing hype similar to what Shaq and Penny did for the city in the early-mid 90’s. Howard is averaging 20.8 points and a league-best 14.4 rebounds per game, and has his Magic in the third spot in the East behind Boston and Detroit. They are 19 games above .500, sitting at 48-29 – a complete turnaround from their 40-42 finish last season. Jameer Nelson has come along well, and Hedo Turkoglu is having the best season of his career. Rashard Lewis has also been a huge contributor on offense since arriving from Seattle, but without Howard, this team is far from 3rd best in the East. (Granted the conference is god-awful)
MVP Candidate #5 – Kevin Garnett
Kevin Garnett has been a phenomenal impact player since he entered the league out of high school 13 years ago. This season, Garnett is part of one of the strongest squad Boston has seen since Bird and McHale were facing off with Kareem and Magic in the 80’s. He is very essential to the team, averaging 18.9 points per game and 9.4 rebounds. However, despite his impact, Garnett cannot be the MVP of the NBA because of his supporting cast. Granted, the Celtics made the biggest turnaround in NBA history, they are now stacked with three consistent all-stars of the past decade. If Garnett were carrying the Celtics to this record without the likes of Ray Allen or Paul Pierce, then he would have a 100% greater chance at being the MVP.
Honorable Mentions
The previous five names are the players with the best chance to take the award, but there are still a few names lurking in the shadows.
Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire has bullied opponents all season in the paint, and has seen a tremendous improvement in his free throw shooting, as well as his ability to get to the line. Picking up the Big Diesel definitely opened up some space from Amare to do his thing, and he has shined in the spotlight, averaging 25.2 points and 9.3 rebounds this season.
Tim Duncan’s name has to be on here somewhere. Year in and year out, Duncan has his Spurs ready to contend for an NBA Championship. He has a phenomenal supporting cast, and continues to post double-doubles game after game. Timmy is all about fundamentals, and that’s why he’s played well against opponents since he’s entered the league 10 years ago.
Utah’s Deron Williams has emerged as one of the best point guards in the league. In just his third NBA season, Williams has his Jazz sitting pretty in the 4th spot in the West, just 3.5 games out of first. He is averaging a double-double for the first time in his career with 19.2 points and 10.5 assists per game. Jazz fans have to be happy having Williams as the guy to run the team on the floor after several years of success under the great, leading assist man of all time, John Stockton.
Let’s not forget two-time MVP Steve Nash. Although many say Kobe should have won at least one of the MVP awards Nash captured, he plays his heart out every game and is extremely fun to watch. Nash’s footwork and quickness is unbelievable. He can thank his early days playing soccer in Canada for that. Nash is averaging a double-double once again this year, averaging 17.5 points and 11.1 assists per game- second only to Chris Paul.
The previous is a guest post written by Jonny Evans. Possibly, soon-to-be, Staff Writer. Let us know what you think about the piece.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Ejay 04.10.08 at 6:23 am
is this your order of who you think should win or is this just a list?
Jonny E. 04.10.08 at 10:06 am
As of right now - it’s the order of who should receive the MVP - first to last. If the Hornets pull it off and finish in 1st in the West, Chris Paul has to win the MVP. New Orleans finished last year with a higher number in the loss column, and to be on top the western conference this year is extremely impressive. Paul has stepped up tremendously and become the leader of this franchise. There is going to be a lot of talk to back up Kobe, but after Nash beat him out twice when he should have arguably been the MVP, he’ll most likely be beat out once again.
Ejay 04.10.08 at 1:30 pm
ok. i think thats pretty accurate. paul should win the mvp over kobe because of what he’s done the only argument is that you could say the same thing about garnett but then again he has two all stars on his team and the east is weak. but i’d put dwight howard over lebron. i dont know what it is about him that turns me off but the cavs underachieved this year and you’d like to say it wasnt his fault but he has to make the players around him better and you cant finsh 5th? in the east.
Don (With Malice...) 04.10.08 at 6:59 pm
Paul over Kobe?
Kobe’s been outstanding all year, I’d put Paul in that category only for the second half - admittedly, first half he was very, very good.
Not often I agree with an Adrian Wojnarowski column, but this time I do.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnYCF1msv0VoZKm2IOU7G528vLYF?slug=aw-bryantformvp040908&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
It’s amazing tho’: as far as the MVP race goes, Kobe is held to far, far higher standards than anyone else. The Hornets lose games by 20+, and no mention. The Lakers lose a game with major injury issues - and it’s Kobe’s fault.
And to state “There is going to be a lot of talk to back up Kobe…” - ummm… ‘talk’? You mean that you feel that there’s nothing substantial in that?
Nick, you point to Kobe using his team-mates once Gasol arrived. That’s fallacious - he was using them, making the players around him better *before* Pau came. The very way you phrase your passage on him comes across as incredibly biased (and that’s a pity, because you normally write so well). You praise Paul, Howard, James, Garnett, Duncan, Stoudemire, Nash and even Deron Williams - but on Kobe you’re dismissive, and the entire passage is about why he shouldn’t win…
I think it all comes down to that he’s such a polarizing figure. He puts up amazing stats in past years and “it’s not all about the stats”… then this year the stats that Paul/James put up are used as evidence as to why they should win.
Joe Dumars summed it up best for me (from Wojnarowski’s column):
“You can’t just continue to take what Kobe is doing for granted,” Pistons president and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars said. “The guy is one of the truly great players and he should be recognized as such.”
Don (With Malice...) 04.10.08 at 7:32 pm
And if he doesn’t win?
Scoop Jackson’s right:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jackson/080407&sportCat=nba
Jonny E. 04.11.08 at 8:08 am
Nick actually didn’t write this. I am Jonny Evans, the name behind the piece. Just wanted to say I’m not trying to come across as biased towards Kobe, although it may sound that way. I honestly always thought he was a “ball hog” or selfish player in the past, but this year he really showed his ability to use his team. Prior to the Lakers getting Gasol, he had everybody, from Jordan Farmer, to Luke Walton, to even Ronnie Turiaf performing well. So I’m not dogging Kobe in any way. I think he’s an unbelievable player, and probably the best in the league. I just believe that Paul has to get MVP if the Hornets finish 1st giving the fact that nobody really in their right minds picked the Hornets to come out on top of the west, and it looks like they just mind, and Paul has played phenomenal en route to the team being so successful.
Nick Underhill 04.11.08 at 11:24 am
Don-
I do agree that Kobe was using his teammates well before Pau came along. I’d actually say that his transformation into a more well rounded, team first, player occured last year. Frankly, I disagree with the assesment that Paul is more deserving of the award, but we all have our own opinions. I think your going a little hard on Jonny though. I mean, there is some bias in this towards Paul, as well as against Kobe, but it’s an opinion piece. It’s who he thinks will win the MVP. I agree that Kobe should win the award, but it’s not insane to put Paul in the number one slot, now if he had someone like Anderson Varejo in there, then I’d be flipping out.
Don (With Malice...) 04.11.08 at 5:17 pm
My bad on stating it was Nick (I should’ve looked a little more closely, late night/busy day!) - and Johnny - I do think it’s a pretty good piece, just the opinion on Kobe was not in character with the rest of the article. Everyone else gets praised as to why they’re on the list, but we’re told why Kobe shouldn’t get #1.
And I don’t have a problem with people putting Paul at #1(tho’ I’d also argue many folks reasons for doing so have nothing to do with basketball).
I’d just like to read something that has Paul at number 1, but also celebrates Kobe as well.
Cheers,
Don
Jonny E. 04.13.08 at 5:55 pm
Kobe is outstanding, simply put. -and I’m one of those people who expected him to get the MVP at least once when Nash did. I like how things are turning up however based on my western conference piece - the Lakers have taken down both New Orleans and San Antonio now in recent days. Kobe also looked great today and the team played very balanced. Also, you’re right, Don, about Kobe making the players around him better before Pau came, but I really don’t think it was until this year that it showed tremendously. He gained a ton of trust in his teammates. But the fact of the matter is, when Pau arrived, a lot changed because this was the addition of another great scorer and getting Pau had to have Kobe smiling from ear to ear. You have to have trust in your teammates when you have a guy like Pau Gasol next to you. And having Pau opened up some space for Odom to play his game, and Odom has been outstanding. By the way, Stuart Scott stated today that Odom is shooting 60% from the floor since the beginning of February.
Don (With Malice...) 04.22.08 at 1:31 am
Sorry - didn’t get a chance to read this until today Johnny… been very, very busy.
A few points I’d enjoy discussing…
“Also, you’re right, Don, about Kobe making the players around him better before Pau came, but I really don’t think it was until this year that it showed tremendously.”
- Which is what I meant… but even prior to Gasol’s arrival, Kobe was doing that. Which is why even before Pau joined the team, LA was near the top of the Western Conference. I’d argue that the play of guys like Turiaf, Farmar, Vujacic & Radmanovic… and the presence of Fisher have more to do with it. Gasol’s almost a given by that point.
I’m just hoping that if Kobe does win it, that folks don’t look at it as a ‘life-time achievement award’. It’s not, the Lakers are what they are because of Kobe.