While Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant have put their respective teams on their backs for the past few months, can either of them make a claim for the MVP award?
Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball players of his generation, but one piece of hardware that continues to elude him is the Most Valuable Player Award.
Although the Lakers are tied for first place in the Western Conference playoff standings, they've finished just seventh the past two seasons.
Some point fingers at Bryant, criticizing that his dominant scoring overshadows his teammates and fails to make them better.
Many voters are starting to lean more toward Chris Paul. His stats seem to get better every week. And the biggest argument for Paul is how he's put the New Orleans Hornets in contention for the West's best record.
Consider that the Hornets are just a half game behind Houston and L.A. for the top mark, some find it almost impossible to deny Paul the MVP trophy. Plus, the MVP should go to the player who makes his teammates better and also has the biggest impact on his club.
But besides Paul, Tracy McGrady, who most didn't even consider an MVP candidate a month ago, is making a sterling run. He's now in the conversation, though he'll have to do plenty more to get the vote.
The 22 wins straight is just incredible—10 straight without Yao—and if the Rockets win their next three games (New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix), McGrady becomes a serious candidate for the award. But right now, he's got too many other things working against him.
In the last 25 years—since Moses Malone won the award with the 46-36 Rockets in 1982—no one has been named MVP when his team won fewer than 50 games.
Couple that with the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers aren't going to win 50 despite playing in the wretched Eastern Conference, it's hard to give LeBron James the trophy.
I know that LeBron has carried the Cavs through holdout after holdout and injury after injury but his schedule isn't nearly as tough as the ones faced by Paul, Kobe, and McGrady.
There is no doubt that James and Bryant are arguably the top two players in the game. The 23-year-old James leads the league in scoring, 30.9 ppg, while the 10-time All-Star Bryant is second at 28.2 points per game.
But this year's vote should go to Chris Paul, simply for taking a Hornets team and making them a playoff contender.
Paul leads the Hornets in scoring 21.3 ppg, 11.1 apg and 2.7 steals per game. He is shooting a solid 49.0 percent from the field, including 36.3 percent from three-point range.
16 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
dude, the hornets had one of the easiest first half schedules
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
maybe, but they are still in the race now and have had the 9th hardest schedule
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Jeffrey Kee about 1 year ago
nice article. chris paul is having a great season and deserves to be in the mvp contention. if i had a vote i would give it to kobe, but thats just me
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Eric Jackson about 1 year ago
you have a lot of good points. kobe's scoring overshadows his teammates, and chris paul has made his team so much better this year. but look at what t-mac has done. 22 in a row and 10 without yao is incredible. you ask me, t-mac deserves mvp honors. we all know the rockets are gonna hit at least 50 wins this year
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Lisa Jackson about 1 year ago
I'm starting a campaign - STEVE NASH FOR MV3. Any team leader and PG who can incorporate the Big Cactus into a team in the middle of the season and make it work deserves props for doing that! STEVE NASH, MV3, STEVE NASH, MV3!!!!!
:)
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Mike Owens about 1 year ago
Good stuff, but if that's the reason you give it to Paul, why not Kobe? He carried the team up until he got himself Pau Gasol. Lets be honest here, no one, and I mean no one, thought the Lakers would be one of the best teams in the NBA this year, especially after a sluggish 9-8 start.
However, if Kobe doesn't win it, I'd hope Paul does. I love what he's done in New Orleans, although he does have two All Star caliber players beside him, which helps. However, he's a dynamic player and has vaulted himself as the best PG in the league now.
And to Lisa....just no. Steve Nash hardly deserved the MVP the first two times he won it, and I can think of at least 5 players who deserve it more than him this year.
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Lisa Jackson about 1 year ago
Mike - the most ridiculous statement I've read on this site in weeks - "Steve Nash hardly deserved the MVP..." Just plain stupid. Go back and read about his seasons when he won.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kobe fears LeBron.
LeBron owns Kobe.
Kobe won't surpass MJ but LeBron has now surpassed Kobe.
KOBE BRYANT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Nate Smith about 1 year ago
Not a very good argument I'm afraid. Kobe is the MVP.
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Patral Moses about 1 year ago
King James si the best why you think he has the name King James
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
BE HONEST GUYS!!! KOBE DESERVES THE MVP!!!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
indeed he does ..cris paul has never lead his team deep into the playoffs ..please let him earn his award ...kobe deserves it this yr
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Mike Owens about 1 year ago
Lisa, how is it ridiculous? His team was completely loaded each year he won it. I'll say, he did deserve to win it one of those two years, but he shouldn't have won it back to back times. Kobe was more deserving than him the year he averaged 36ppg. He carried the Lakers on his back to 45 wins that year.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I agree with Mike. He had players starting on his team that aren't even in the NBA or are playing on the bench on other teams right getting minimal minutes.
Nash was good but he didn't have nearly the year CP3 is having now.
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Michael O'Brian about 1 year ago
Chris Paul!
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
In 2005-06 Kobe was "penalized" in the MVP race for being on a bad team despite having great stats. This season hes being penalized for having better teammates. Meanwhile Lebron is being touted as a MVP candidate for the exact same thing that hurt Kobe in 05-06. Seems pretty clear to me that people are manipulating the argument just to hurt Kobe's chances.
Id also like to say that Shaq should have won the MVP in 2004-05. Despite averaging career lows that season, his impact was undeniable as proven by Miami's performance in the playoffs. If not for Shaq and Wade's injuries in the East Finals we might have seen a Spurs-Heat final that year. I believe image and race played a part in Nash's MVP win. It wasnt the only or the main reason why Nash won but it played a part. The NBA and the voter/writers fell for the Suns system which was exciting and bloated stats but was proven ineffective in the playoffs.
Shaq wasnt the best player that year. Duncan and KG probably were but Duncan disqualified himself by getting hurt and only playing in 66 games while the Wolves were awful that year. So Shaq should have won it by default. The MVP should be the guy everyone is afraid of facing and that definitely doesnt sound like Steve Nash.
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