NBA Most Valuable Player: A Joke of an Award

Before the MVP, that distinction belonged to the Olympic gold medal. The success of the rest of the world on the international stage has changed that.

But just like the Hollywood Foreign Press has convinced the public that the Golden Globes are important, the NBA's sportswriters and broadcasters have convinced the public that the MVP is really important, thus giving those members of the media way too much power.

But why do fans care so much? Do they feel like it's validation for their support of their hometown player or is it because they know their team won't win a championship and they want so badly to win that Golden Globe?

Maybe it's because I'm from Los Angeles that I don't care. The Lakers have been to the NBA Finals thirteen times since 1980. In that same amount of time, three different Lakers have won five MVPs. You think I care? Was there any consolation when their teams didn't win the title two of those years? None at all.

I recently contributed my own opinion for this year's MVP in Michael Whittenberg's NBA Roundtable. Personally, I think Chris Paul is the NBA's most deserving MVP.

But you know Paul isn't going to win the MVP for the same reason that freshmen don't win the Heisman Trophy—there's some unwritten rule that says that the young guys shouldn't get the award because it's not their turn—they haven't paid their dues and they'll have plenty more years to win it.

That's ridiculous.

Check out the MVP voting for the 2005 season. Take a look at Kobe Bryant's vote tally. He finished fourth overall and yet he was second in first-place votes with 22, six more than LeBron James, who finished third in first-place votes.

He had the fewest amount of second-place votes with only 11, the fewest amount of third-place votes with 18 and the highest total of fifth-place votes with 30.

How can the same person have 22 first-place votes and 30 fifth-place votes? It's easy. There are a lot of writers and broadcasters who just can't stand him. It's personal.

It's one thing to vote for the guy you want to finish first because you think he should win. It's a complete other thing to vote a guy fifth just to ensure that he won't win the award because you don't like him.

Believe me, I'm not making the case that Kobe should have won the award. But those numbers speak volumes about the people who vote for the award.  

How can the award be considered legitimate if unwritten rules, personal vendettas, marketing machines, popularity, and politics reign supreme? Why aren't there some standardized criteria established by the writers and broadcasters?

This year's Golden Globes were cancelled due to the WGA strike. I wouldn't be upset if the same thing happened to the MVP.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?