When picking the NBA MVP, I’ve never quite understood the approach, or formula, most voters use.
Picking the best player on the best team always seemed like a cop-out to me. Sure, there’s a lot to be said by having one of the best records, but chances are if your team has the best record then there’s more than one great player on your team.
Take the San Antonio Spurs for example. We all know how talented Tim Duncan is, clearly the MVP for the Spurs, but if you took away Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili is Tim Duncan still as effective? Are the Spurs in general still as effective?
My point is that they should determine the MVP based on: when (FILL IN NAME) is on the floor, I never feel like his team is out of the game.
- B/R Ticket Guide
For me, the two names that come to mind are Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. I’m not saying that these are the only two players that can give you that feeling, but when I watch the Lakers or Cavaliers I can’t help but feel those teams always have a chance, regardless of who’s playing around Kobe or LeBron.
Or you might get that feeling when you see Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, or Steve Nash. There’s no right or wrong answer among the elite players in the league because that feeling is different for everybody.
I tend to lean on LeBron more this season because if you took him away from the Cavaliers, they’d be worse than the Miami Heat are right now. At least without Kobe, the Lakers have Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum.
Kobe also doesn’t make the players around him better the way LeBron does. Pau Gasol was already great, Lamar Odom is a career under-achiever because his expectations coming into the league were through the roof, and Andrew Bynum (pre-injury) is getting very good, not entirely because Kobe but rather Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (over the past two summers).
I actually wish the captain’s of each team exclusively voted for the MVP. How could they be wrong, they're the one’s playing against these guys every night? Who are we as fans to tell Chauncey Billups “you’re wrong, (FILL IN NAME) is much harder to guard than (FILL IN NAME).”
This would also be great as it would bar ESPN’s Skip Bayless from having any vote, opinion, or anything else to rant on about towards the end of the season.
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9 months ago
"Kobe also doesn’t make the players around him better the way Lebron does. "
The same old tired crap line regurgitated over and over. First it was Kobe doesn't make his team better compared to Nash, now it's the same excuse not to give him MVP with Lebron replacing Nash in that equation.
How about justifying that statement with some analysis rather than leaving it as a blanket statement with no backup or facts. Kobe's teammates the past 3 years have had career years EVERY single year. Remember Smush Parker and that contract Miami gave him.....that's courtesy of Kobe Bryant.
Once again morons like yourself look for reason NOT to give Kobe Bryant the MVP, where other players such as Lebron you look for reason to give him the award. Your bias stinks and is transparent.
How about this: No player, besides Moses Malone, has been named as MVP on a team that hasn't won 50 games. Lebron and the Cavs have no chance to reach 50, even in the weak ass East.
Kobe 2 years ago had to carry his team on his back, averaging 45 for an entire month, to get them to the playoffs in the West. You do remember that sorry lot of a roster don't you? ....as Kobe proved that year where his numbers were astronomical, stats don't get you the award; team wins do. that precedent has already been set.
Lebron should be behind both Kobe and Chris Paul. But the hype machine is in full effect, and the hypocrisy is glaring.
from 9 months ago
Thanks for commenting. I agree that Kobe got robbed by not winning the MVP 2 years ago, and you could make a strong case why he should have won it last season. My article though isn't about previous seasons or accolades. The whole point of my article is that my opinion and yours (the fans) shouldn't influence MVP voters whatsoever, and that the players should decide who their MVP is.
Overall I think you had a great response with the exception of Smush Parker. Get it right, Parker got that over-inflated contract out of desperation, Miami knew they were a sinking ship and Jason Williams was killing them.
9 months ago
lol what is this kid talking about...
Smush Parker? He got all those points as a Lakers thanks to all the triple teams drawn on Kobe.
Lebron cannot even top 60% mark in the EAST! Are you joking me?
Had Kobe been playing in the East, I wouldn't be surprised even if Kobe averages like 30 / 7 / 7 and take the team to the NBA Finals and end up getting swept by the West
If anyone should win this year, it should be Kobe.
Stop being a dumbass please.
9 months ago
I smell people riding Kobe's dick again! Hahaha! Kobe won't win an MVP with LeBron still in the league. Unless LBJ retires, Kobe doesn't have a chance.
Kobe can't surpass MJ but LeBron have now surpassed Kobe. Deal with it Kobe lovers.
9 months ago
hey u who fuck ever ur,kobe is d best.suck dick kid,ur lebrons.kobe is mvp forever.deal with it sucker.
9 months ago
kobe makes his team better by drawing double and triple teams and allowing everyone to get open. now with pau, bynum, and odom, he'll even be more ridiculously good.
9 months ago
The media is dead set on not giving kobe an mvp. whats lebron doing this year? putting up incredible, hasn't-been-seen-in-decades stats while his team struggles to keep in the playoff hunt? exactly like kobe did 2 years ago in the WEST? No no, but that year best player on the best team ruled. Now that kobe is putting up plain old GREAT stats on a team thats a two seed (and rising) in the stacked west, no no its all about individual performance. we robbed kobe two years ago so now we can justify robbing him this year by giving it to lebron. Face it, people hate kobe, and will do and say anything to not give him the mvp. Ohh but he's SECOND though. how nice.
9 months ago
What an idiot. Bynum get 83%. READ THAT AGAIN 83% of his points on LOBS. That means, Kobe draws so much attention, that Bynum gets the easy shots. Fisher, Vlad shooting career highs....Because of the attention Bryant draws.
Bryant leads a team with Smush Parker and Kwame Brown to the playoffs in the West two years runnings. David, you moron. Kobe is the MVP.
9 months ago
LeBron can cry me a river. Kobe went to the WC playoffs 2 years in a row with KWAME and SMUSH starting. Those clowns are so bad that they can't get ANY playing time on the 2 worst teams in the league. If Kobe couldn't get MVP then putting up ridiculous stats, I don't wanna hear about Bron playing in the cupcake East this year..
9 months ago
Kobe is powerless against Lebron. There might have been argument 2 years ago that Kobe was better. Now, it's not even close. Cavs will make a season ending push and get 50 wins and Lebron will take home the MVP. Too bad for Kobe, this is probably his last chance to get one. At least he has an All Star MVP on his resume.
9 months ago
LeBron wants an MVP? He better prove it! He can't manage to be the best team in his division, let alone the fact that the East has 5 teams sub .500 in the playoffs. He doesn't have a very good road record and MVPs win 55-60+ games, LeBron will be lucky to get 45. And the hype is so overrated.
Hype: LeBron is 1st in 4th qtr pts, highest ppg average, great passer...gee whiz!
Truth: Kobe is running the triangle without forcing anything, FIRST IN TOTAL POINTS in the league, SECOND in 4th qtr pts in the league, 90 40+ pt games which is THIRD ALL TIME BEHIND CHAMBERLAIN AND JORDAN, 2nd ppg average with Pau, Odom, others, and 1.5 assists less than LeBron but yet he's called a ball hog, and he's only 1.8 rpg lower than LeBron while he's in the backcourt and Bron is a front court forward. And his team is on its way to getting 55-60+ wins with the 2nd best record in the West, which BROKE AN ALL TIME RECORD WITH 10 TEAMS at near .600. That's a real MVP folks. LeBron still has to grow up, change his diaper in the mean time. Want proof he hasn't grown up? He gets to the line probably more than anyone in the league, yet he shoots a horrid 70% from the free throw line. Those are freebies and he can't get a decent percentage. All he's good at is using his overgrown body to barrel through a couple guys and tap a shot in. Kobe hits fadeaway shots, layups, dunks, threes, turnarounds, has the most skill in the league. LeBron needs to get real. NOT AN MVP.
9 months ago
i'd like to point out also that until recently, kobe has played almost 5 or 6 minutes less than lebron and sometimes hadn't even played during the 4th quarter at all because he had lead his team very well for the first 3 quarters- so of course lebron is going to have the "best" 4th quarter stats this year. if kobe were playing like the last several seasons when the lakers still sucked, kobe would be leading the league in points per game and per 4th quarter.
and great point: lebron ONLY has 1.5 more assists than kobe (although i do consider lebron as a better assist machine than kobe, despite the fact that both are great passers), so quit the ballhog comments. and kobe's rebounding average is MUCH MUCH more impressive than lebron's because kobe's a shooting guard while lebron's a forward, not to mention that lebron's almonst 3in taller and 50lbs heavier; lebron actually sucks for not being able to average more than 6 rebounds than kobe.
lebron is nothing but an overhyped baby coddled by the nba and media. that's the only thing that redeems his horrible lack of skills (yes people, he has no skills like kobe; all he's got is his huge body to overpower his defenders. he's like the shaq of forwards)
from 9 months ago
First off, you will find nowhere in my article where I claim Lebron to be the superior player. The award is called the "Most Valuable Player", if the award was called the "Best Player" than Kobe would be winning it for years. All I stated was that I happen to prefer Lebrons game a tiny bit more and when Kobe and Lebron play each other Lebron and the Cavs have come out on top more. That won't happen again obviously with Gasol being added to the Lakers.
While you impressively went over Kobe's illustrious resume, you failed to mention a few things about Lebron:
1) Lebron has missed time this year, while he has missed time Cleveland hasn't won.
2) Last season when Kobe missed the first few games, the Lakers won without him, and this was a Lakers team with Smush Parker on it.
3) You talk about Lebron not rebounding enough because he's a small forward, the same could be said that Kobe doesn't get the assists he should because he's a guard. I don't believe either of what I just said to really even matter, but show me another SF in the league who gets his guys open the way Lebron does and besides Lebron doesn't need to rebound much on a team who's starters all get boards.
I'm having a hard time trying to understand why you and so many others can't seem to be able to enjoy both players. Am I the only person that truly believes the NBA is big enough for both of them. If you care at all about the NBA and don't want it to turn into the NHL, then you should embrace the young talent coming into the league rather than complain about it.
I respect your knowledge of Kobe and I respect the two long comments you posted, but again, If you read my article again you'll realize that I'm not in total disagreement with you.
9 months ago
1) Lebron and the Cavs beating the Lakers several times has nothing to do with how "better" Lebron's game is compared to Kobe's. It's a team game with many variables, and with 2 of the best players playing against each other, it's up the rest of each player's team mates to make the difference. Carmelo has an 8-2 record against Lebron...does that fact make Carmelo "better" than Lebron?
2) Lebron had missed time, but few players were injured and Varejao was holding out contractually during the same time, so it was a depleted team when Lebron wasn't playing. Just because a team doesn't have a winning record when its star player doesn't play doesn't mean he's MVP. It just means he's their star player. We can take Chris Bosh off the raptors and they will undoubtedly have a hard time winning games, but no one would hardly mention him in the MVP race. Furthermore, it definitely was impressive when the Lakers won the first few games without kobe last season, but if you saw how the lakers were playing for the majority of the remaining season, if Kobe had not played (heck, if Kobe hadn't put up astronomical numbers during one or two months even while playing) the lakers would have failed to make the playoffs and been a near lottery-bound team.
3) The same can not be said of kobe because he is a SHOOTING guard. by definition his primary function is to score, not pass. The point guard is supposed to accumulate the assists. However, both the small and power forward have rebounding responsibilities. What Kobe does as a smaller, lighter guard is inexplicable. Like I said, I give the slight edge to Lebron in terms of getting assists, but even he does only barely better than Kobe on average.
ps. the two comments are from different people, i wrote the "i'd like to point out..."
9 months ago
To further explain point 2, the effect of the absence of one player doesn't prove anything. not many players have the "opportunity" to get injured and miss out in order to prove a point; we all know IF major all stars missed games due to injury, it's most likely their team would suffer, especially when other team members are also missing.
you can't deny that in retrospect, the mvp discussions have always been tailored to hypocritically exclude and disadvantage kobe.
9 months ago
Listen as far as Lebron James being better then Kobe Bryant, I think you had better stop smoking that shit. Lebron hasn't done enough to even step inside the ring with Kobe. We haven't seen anyone like Kobe Bryant since Michael Jordan. Kobe can score from anywhere at anytime against anyone. Lebron can't do that YET only time will tell. And i don't think anyone even mentioned that Kobe has been on first or second Team all NBA defense for the last 8 years. As far as making the players around him better i don't think Kobe is given enough credit. With the amount of attention Kobe recieves the role players are better off in LA with Kobe then anywhere else because they wouldn't even score if they were on different teams. And I'm making this point for before Gasol got there not now cause he's probably the only exception out of everyone on the team. As far as the article goes I think you make a valid point but please everyone open your eyes Kobe Bryant is the second best player to ever play the game Lebron has got years before we can talk about him in that manner.
9 months ago
Okay...David or whoever wrote this "article". I don't have anything against LeBron, amazing player, amazing scorer. No matter how much you guys going to argue about this. If Lakers win 50 games, Bryant will get the MVP wether he deserves it or not...Enough said
9 months ago
The West is so stacked. The best player on the top-seed in the West should get the MVP. Period.
9 months ago
Kobe Bryant SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9 months ago
I feel Lebron is the better player and the stats do back it up. He is a 30/8/8 guy that also provides 2 steals and over 1 block per game.
It's also funny how things are perceived. Many years ago, it was Magic that extended Kareem's career. Nobody ever says it was Kareem's presence that made life easier for Magic.
Right now, I think it's Gasol that's been the most valuable player for the Lakers. It's _his_ arrival that has turned the Lakers into a winning team. Kobe has been more efficient shooter. More importantly, look at Gasol's impact on Lamar Odom, whose game has flourished thus far.
It's the big men, not the SG, that have the greatest impact on a team. No matter how good they might be, guards/scorers will always be dime a dozen. It doesn't take much to become a 20-25 ppg scorer. Finding quality big men like Gasol is really what basketball is all about. They are the difference between winning and losing.
9 months ago
That's the most interesting and valid comment I've seen so far. I've always said that if every player in the league was to get redrafted and I had the #1 pick Dwight Howard would probably be the wisest selection.
I concur 100% that guard/forward players in the NBA are a dime a dozen, but young quality big men are hard to find. With Howard only being 22yrs old, never missing a game since he's been drafted, along with his steady improvement each year, and unselfishness I'd feel almost obligated to take him. It would just be much easier to build a team around him. Chris Paul on the other hand would be in heavy consideration as well.
Back to what you said though. Pau Gasol's presence has completely rejuvenated the Lakers, and like Magic did for Kareem, Gasol probably added a few more years to Kobe's already amazing career.
9 months ago
let's see gasol win without kobe...oh yea that's right, he didn't. you sound just as idiotic as the people who thought bynum was more mvp than kobe.
9 months ago
stats don't back up anything...it just means lebron's the only guy doing anything on the cavs. we all saw what kobe could do when put in that situation. "better player" my ass. do you even watch how the two play? and i mean really watch, not just looking up the boxscore after each game? if you do, anyone with an inkling of basketball knowledge knows that kobe has more talent in his pinkie than lebron does in his entire body. kobe plays with skill/creativity, lebron plays with body/athleticism. i guarantee in 10 years time when lebron's body is broken down, if he hasn't nurtured his skills already by then, he'll be infinitely less effective than kobe at the same age.
9 months ago
wow david why do you only reply to the most idiotic posts? Tell me this:
if kobe doesn't make his teammates better, explain Gasols 15% increase in FG%, Fishers 8% increase in fg% and 10% increase in 3fg% this year, odoms dramatic fg% increase when he came to the lakers 4 years ago, smush parkers only effectiveness he'll ever have, and shaqs best years all coming when they played with kobe? He functions like a big man in the middle, opening the floor for everyone else, but it doesn't always show in the box score. You give shaq credit for that.
And why oh why would lebron even be in consideration when he plays in the so obviously weak east? its a fact they would be outside of the playoff hunt if they were in the west even IF they kept the same record (they wouldn't). The cavs aren't even looking at homecourt advantage in the first round right now! In the EAST!
Its like you writers change the rules every year. 2006 and 2007 mvps: best player on a top team
2008: Individual stats regardless of record.
Flip these and Kobes looking at his third consecutive MVP this year.
KGs playing well below where he has before, nash and nowitzki play no D and everyone knows now they aren't winners, duncans old, lebron plays on a crappy team in a crappy conference.
The ONLY candidates are Paul and Kobe right now. Pick your man, I don't care. But not Lebron.
9 months ago
Hey its me anonymous again. Just wanted to add to my post:
Larry hughes certainly didn't get better playing with lebron. Ilgauskas didn't improve much (if at all) when lebron came in. Damon Jones had a career best year til he came to the cavs. And carlos boozer was only known for getting a ball bounced off his head in the rookie game til he went to Utah. Now he's an all-star getting MVP talk. Drew Gooden showed slight improvement with the cavs, but now its going away.
Wheres proof of all this "he makes his teammates better" talk? Ira Newble? Played worse with the cavs too. Odom, Fisher, Shaq, Smush, and so far Gasol all play their best basketball on Kobes team. Thats solid, thats not talk. Think about it.
9 months ago
seriously david, you only call something a "great post" when it agrees with you, and yet you can't even come up with a reply to all the relevant and cogent arguments against lebron. that's a sign of a weak debater
9 months ago
If we are operating from the fundamental assumption in the author's original article--that is, that the MVP were hypothetically selected as the "player whose presence on the court made an outside observer never doubt that team still had a chance," then certainly I see the author's point. While Kobe Bryant may well possess the greatest skill set in the NBA right now, nobody is going to look at a Lakers-Suns game that is 20 points in the Suns favor in the 4th quarter, and realistically be glued to the TV figuring the Lakers have a chance. Now if it were the Cavs-Bulls, and the Cavs are down 20, but LeBron is starting his "what the hell am I doing--I'm 6'8" / 240, surrounding by garbage support, and can generally score every time I take it to the hole" mode, then of course we believe the Cavs have a chance. Does this comparison benefit LeBron because he has the (mis)fortune of playing in an obviously weaker Eastern Conference? You bet. But you can't blame him for the geographic location of Cleveland, Ohio.
With all that said, I'm not sure that this fundamental assumption is correct. I think the MVP ought to be selected as the best player on a team that is doing things they otherwise wouldn't be doing without him. That doesn't necessarily mean LeBron (whose Cavs would suck horribly without him, but who still suck even with him). Think more along the lines of a guy like Chris Paul, or even Kobe to a certain extent.
In the end, it doesn't really matter. Once the late-season chatter begins to circulate among the talking heads of the NBA, certain candidates for MVP become trendy and before you know it, the eventual winner becomes as clear as can be. Just be glad it's not quite as bad as the NFL yet--where the "best player on the best team" criteria is certainly in full effect.
9 months ago
It's me anonymous again. I've really thought about it and I think Kobe is the MVP. I've also decided it's time I came out of the closet.
Wow. I feel so liberated.
I also don't know shit about basketball. I guess I just thought Kobe sucked because I wish I was more like him. When I said Kobe sucks what I mean to say was I wanna suck Kobe.
I realized how stupid my argument was. I mean, think about it- when Kobe played with guys like Smush Parker and Brian Cook we said he didn't make his teammates better. How much better was he supposed to make Smush Parker? Now that he has good teammates we say that he's only winning because of his teammates.
I just got word from my doctor that I'm clinically retarded. That would explain how little I know about basketball.
Sorry for all the harsh words, David. I guess I was talking out of my ass because I wished I was dead.
9 months ago
This man needs Decaf...pronto!
9 months ago
you need help
9 months ago
dude that anonymous guys f..king weird
9 months ago
what kind of idiot are you? kobe can, and has, lead his team from big deficits in the past.
9 months ago
"Kobe also doesn’t make the players around him better the way LeBron does."
i'm sorry, which players have lebron made better? drew gooden? larry hughes? oh, i'm sorry, they've been traded...and now lebron's getting help from ben wallace. just like kobe's getting help from pau gasol. yeah, you could still say that maybe lebron's made varejao better, but if you say that, you also have to say that kobe's made guys like sasha vujacic and jordan farmar better.
9 months ago
I think the most VALUABLE player has to carry his team. I think Kobe carries the Lakers, and has them near the top of the tough Western Conference. Kobe should at least get one MVP in his career. He could possibly go to the Hall of Fame with near 30,000 points, 4 championships, and NO MVPs. That would be totally ludacris.
9 months ago
if the world had any ounce of justice, kobe would be looking for his 2nd or 3rd mvp this year
9 months ago
Wow, lots of Kobe nutriders on this board. OBEY YOUR THIRST!
9 months ago
if kobe doesn't win an mvp during his career, the award should be destroyed because if he doesn't deserve it, nobody else even comes close to deserving it.
9 months ago
http://www.sportshubla.com/2008/02/21/hes-beethoven-bryant-now-hear-the-music/
read it, it's a good article on how kobe's the best baller of this generation.
9 months ago
would people give this arguement a break? Why is everyone so intrested in pitting Kobe and LeBron against each other? The entire concept of the MVP award is ridicules. How do you define the "most valuble player" in a team sport. In this case of Kobe VS. LeBron it might make some sense, but when you start adding other peoples names into the mix, such as Chris Paul or KG, then the award makes no sense. Point guards aren't supposed to do what shooting guards do, and guards aren't supposed to do what fowards do. The MVP award is scrwed up at its basic concept. The point is stop fighting over whos the best player or most vaulbe player is and enjoy the games.
7 months ago
lol...dude i swear! u read my freakiiin mindd!....except he would be getting more points...cause he is already scoring like 29 a game in the TOUGH west!...well yeah that's my opinion
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