It’s the final week of the NBA regular season, and there’s no clear-cut leader for the 2007-08 NBA MVP. At least not in the city of the candidates. Consensus has Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, and Chris Paul leading the way.
Personally, I think it’s a 3-horse race between Kobe, Garnett, and Paul. Since the Cleveland Cavaliers won’t reach the magical 50-win plateau, which appears to be an unwritten rule to be considered for the award, LeBron will have to wait another year.
Using individual statistics (alone), Kobe is this year’s winner. However, Paul leads the league in assists (11.6) and steals (2.73), plus carries a 21-point average. On the other hand, Garnett could be the defensive player of the year and has led the Celtics to the greatest one-year turnaround in NBA history.
Of the three, only Garnett has won the coveted award (2004). That, coupled with the fact that he plays with two other superstars (Pierce and Ray Allen), leads me to believe he will finish third in the voting. And, while Paul seems to have personally carried his team to a great season and the playoffs, I’m not sure he can overcome the sentiment that it’s Kobe’s time.
With all due respect to LeBron, and whether you like him personally or not, Kobe is the best player in the NBA. Granted, the addition of Pau Gasol to the Lakers has been instrumental to their rise in the Western Conference, but it has been the consistent play of Kobe that has brought the Lakers back to prominence.
I’m not a big Kobe fan, but he gets my vote.
(You can vote for the player of your choice in the www.HOFMAG.com poll.)
By the way, do you know who’s won the most NBA MVP awards? Here’s a list of multiple winners and how many trophies they’ve garnered.
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 6
- Bill Russell: 5
- Michael Jordon: 5
- Wilt Chamberlain: 4
- Larry Bird: 3
- Magic Johnson: 3
- Moses Malone: 3
- Tim Duncan: 2
- Karl Malone: 2
- Steve Nash: 2
- Bob Pettit: 2
