Word leaked Wednesday morning that Steve Nash will be named this year's MVP. While it won't be officially announced for some time, it looks like it's a done deal. And we think it's absurd.
The fact that Steve Nash is going to win the award isn't the problem. The problem is that Kobe Bryant didn't. Honestly, what more could Kobe have done this season to win the MVP? It's a joke. And what makes the whole thing even more outrageous is that his losing out is clearly personal. To be blunt, he didn't win it because the people with the votes just don't like him. And that's a shame.
Heading into this season, if someone asked you to make a list of what Kobe would have to do in the 2005-06 NBA season to win the MVP, what would you have said? Something like that Kobe would have to show that he's the best player in the NBA and he would have to take that god-awful Lakers team to the playoffs — not an easy thing to do in the Western Conference.
So what did Kobe do? Here are three numbers: 81, 62 and 35.4. The 81-point explosion against the Raptors in January completely eclipsed the fact that he gave the Mavericks 62 in just three quarters a few weeks prior. His 35.4 points per game, easily enough to secure him the league's scoring title, was the eighth-highest single-season scoring average in league history and the most since MJ put up 37.1 points per game back in '87. No. 8 put together two separate streaks this season where he scored 40 or more points in four straight games.
Let's be blunt: Kobe Bryant is clearly the best basketball player in the world.
We've said it so many times: Steve Nash's supporting cast includes Shawn Marion (a guy who should have received some MVP attention) and Boris Diaw (potentially the NBA's Most Improved Player).
But if you substituted any other elite NBA shooting guard for Kobe Bryant and kept that same Lakers supporting cast, L.A.'s season would have been very, very different. Is there any doubt that Los Angeles would have finished with a record that was just as abysmal as that of the Knicks, Raptors or Trail Blazers?
Kobe didn't barely get the Lakers to the playoffs, just scraping out the eighth seed. They finished seventh, were firmly entrenched in the playoff picture for much of the year, and their 45-game win total in the West was more than all but four teams in the Eastern Conference. With complimentary pieces like Chris Mihm, Devean George, Brian Cook and Sasha Vujacic surrounding Kobe, 45 wins in the Western Conference is nothing short of a miracle.
So why no love for Kobe? Like we said earlier, it's strictly personal. There's no other explanation. The writers with the votes just don't like him. They're blurring their feelings about Kobe as a person with how they view him as a basketball player.
We've been hearing all year that Kobe shouldn't win the MVP because he "doesn't make the players around him better." We don't necessarily agree, but if that's what we're basing this on, then by all means, give Steve Nash the "Makes Those Around Him Better Award" and be done with it.
Kobe perfectly fits the two criteria that voters traditionally use when deciding on an MVP: he's the best player in the league and he's invaluable to his team.
Kobe Bryant is the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
It's not even close.
Aber darüber schüttelt meine Freundin schon den Kopf, weiß nich was sie zu nem zweiten Trikot sagt, dass an der Wand hängt ^^
