LA Lakers Midseason Awards: Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom Deserve Recognition

With the NBA season near its halfway mark, and the Lakers having the best record in the Western Conference, it's about time we handout some midseason awards for the LA Lakers' strong 2008-'09 season.

For this round, I'd be giving four awards—MVP, sixth man, most-improved, and their Mythical Five. Feel free to comment and suggest other awards.

Even without looking at the stat sheets, I think nobody will argue that Kobe is still, and would continue to be in the next few years, the Lakers' best player. The Lakers still don't have a One-Two Punch, or a Big Three, or the Strong Five. They only have one MVP and that's Kobe Bryant! No more, no less.

But let's be objective and look at his numbers.

His stats are a bit off this season (27.2 points, 4.7 assists, 1.32 steals) compared to his last year's performance (28.3 points, 5.4 assists, 1.84 steals) that made him the league MVP. But this is attributed more to the improved performance of his teammates rather than his diminishing contributions.

He's playing less minutes this season (36.2 vs. 38.9 last season) but his performance efficiency rating (PER) improved from 24.09 to 25.06, the second best this year behind Miami's Dwayne Wade. Wait...let me check that again.

Oh, sorry. The Lakers lost in their last two games and Bryant's PER dropped to 24.97, just good for number three behind Portland's Brandon Roy.

Bryant also increased his contributions to the team this January when the level of competition increases as we approach the middle of the season and the trading deadline. He averaged 30.1 points on 49.2 percent shooting (45.9 percent from beyond the arc), 7.1 assists, and 6.0 rebounds in nine games this January.

And for those who think that Kobe shoots too much and misses a lot: Well, he has the best field goal percentage (47.8 percent) for shooting guards with PER of 20 or more (Roy is second, Wade third).

Just by watching their games, it's not easy to see Odom's contributions to the team. He's coming off-the-bench; he plays shorter minutes; he usually doesn't score much; his rebounding is off; etc. etc.

Moreover, his stats are all off from last season. Last year, he averaged 14.2 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 3.5 assists, 10.7 rebounds in 37.9 minutes of playing time. This season, his averages dipped to 9.1 points on 47.3 percent shooting, 2.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds in 26.4 minutes of playing time.

So why am I giving this sixth man award to Lamar in spite of his seemingly diminished performance? Well, this award should go to the player who contributes the most to his team by doing the other things that bench players are supposed to be doing when they are on the court.

The little things that current statistics don't track like setting screens, taking charges, drawing double teams, etc.

And that's what Odom keeps on doing.

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Vote Now! - Author Poll

Should the Lakers revamp their starting lineup?

• No. Don't mess with it
• Start Lamar, let Drew come off-the-bench
• Start Trevor in place of Vlad
• Start both Lamar & Trevor

vote to see results

Results - Author Poll

Should the Lakers revamp their starting lineup?

• No. Don't mess with it

  44.7%

• Start Lamar, let Drew come off-the-bench

  18.4%

• Start Trevor in place of Vlad

  18.4%

• Start both Lamar & Trevor

  18.4%
• Total votes: 38

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