And that is why all the awards are becoming a complete joke. There is absolutely no way someone should be rewarded for their current season based on previous seasons. You could be the GOAT but if every year some one-year-wonder plays better than you and is more valuable, you shouldn't have any MVPs. But you are correct. If Kobe wins it, which I think he will, this will be the main reason. Obviously we disagree on whether it's fair or not. Paul is a strong candidate mainly because Nash set the bar too low for point guards. All you have to do is average a lot of assists and win games and there really is no argument against you. I mean, Paul blows Nash's MVP numbers out of the water, how can you not give it to him? Kobe is not more valuable to his team this year than he was last year or the year before. In fact, with the progress of Bynum and the acquisition of Gasol, he is not as valuable as before (serenity Kobe homers, I realize he is still very valuable and most valuable on that team). LeBron has kinda fallen off a bit. I don't think he has a legit shot despite his incredible numbers and the 'patheticness' of the team he has (especially before the deadline). Going purely by definition, I'd say he is the MVP. But I don't think anyone has ever won the award based just on the value to their team. If I had to vote it would be Paul, LeBron, Kobe.
CP3 without a doubt. Seems like every game post-all star break he goes off for 20+ points and 13+ assists
Paul is my vote, though I think Garnett should at least be an option. Cleveland's only barely in the top half of the entire league right now - LeBron does do it all on his own, but MJ didn't get MVPs when his Bulls were less than a 50-win team either. Garnett's hurt by the fact that he plays with two other All Stars, but there's no doubt that he is that team's soul and they wouldn't be nearly as dominant without his leadership. Switch him out for Al Jefferson and they'd be good, but not 60 win good. 50 win good. Kobe's not a bad choice, but their winning has had a lot more to do with Gasol. Kobe's played all 72 games. 49-23 record, 16-3 with Gasol, 33-20 without him. That's enough of a difference to make you at least pause. I should note that I consider the game that Gasol got hurt (3 minutes into the first) to be "without Gasol." Chris Paul is just too damn dominant right now. This is the best PG play, scoring included, that I can remember since Isiah Thomas. Evan
Evan I agree mostly with what you said except a few cavauts. -I believe one of Jordan's MVPs was with a 50 win team tied for 3rd best record in the East. That is a smidgen different than where Lebron's team likely will be. That said I think Cleve needed to make a run for a solid 3 seed, which they havn't. -I also agree KG should be in the 4 group. You can't discount how much better his team has been than the rest of the league, and it isn't like that team didn't have some big questions--PG, C and bench. In addition to his offensive contributions--he is most responsible for making their defense the best in the league. Don't forget his killer West record too--for those who say, well, he plays in the East. -Chis Paul if the season ended today (them #1 in the West) would get my vote. Probably whoever between his and Kobe's team ends up #1 in the West should get it. But I wouldn't say Paul is playing at a higher level than Nash was the previous 3 years--you have to factor in Nash's insanely efficient shooting into account in addition to total scoring, assits, etc.
http://www.probasketballnews.com/friedman_032608.html "s of March 26, the L.A. Lakers are in a virtual tie with the New Orleans Hornets for the best record in the Western Conference. While on the surface it would seem like the Lakers have had a good season they in fact have had “three” good seasons: in their “first” season they went 24-11 with Andrew Bynum playing center, in their “second” season they went 15-4 with Bynum out and Pau Gasol playing center and in their “third” season they have gone 10-7 so far despite being without both Bynum and Gasol (the “third” season actually came in two parts, a 6-5 segment prior to acquiring Gasol and the most recent 4-2 segment with Gasol out of the lineup due to injury). There is a lot of talk about what Chris Paul hasaccomplished in New Orleans with his supporting cast. He certainly deserves a great deal of credit for the fine season he is having, establishing himself as the league’s best point guard. However, there has been little if any acknowledgement of just how much Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have overcome this season. Consider these numbers: Paul’s top two inside players are All-Star David West and Tyson Chandler. West is averaging 20.3 ppg, 9.2 rpg and 1.3 bpg while shooting .475 from the field and .840 from the free throw line. Chandler is averaging 11.6 ppg, 12.2 rpg and 1.08 bpg while shooting .600 from the field and .597 from the free throw line. Bryant’s top two inside players are Gasol and Bynum. As a Laker, Gasol is averaging 18.8 ppg, 7.9 rpg and 1.6 bpg while shooting .581 from the field and .792 from the free throw line. Bynum is averaging 13.1 ppg, 10.2 rpg and 2.06 bpg while shooting .636 from the field and .695 from the free throw line. Gasol’s scoring, rebounding and shot blocking averages would be a bit higher if you take out his last game, during which he only played three minutes before spraining his ankle. Perhaps those two big men tandems seem fairly evenly matched -- but here is the kicker: West has played in 63 of a possible 69 games and Chandler has played in 66 games, while Bynum has only played in 35 of 71 games and Gasol has only played in 19 games as a Laker. The Hornets’ big men lead the Lakers’ big men in games played 129-54! Moreover, for virtually the entire season the Hornets’ big men have been on the court together; Gasol and Bynum have never been on the court together as teammates in a regular season game. That means that the real comparison has to include centers Ronny Turiaf and Kwame Brown, who started 18 and 14 games, respectively, for the Lakers and whose numbers are of course much worse than those put up by Gasol and Bynum. Can anyone say with a straight face that Paul would have won as many games as Bryant has with the Gasol-Bynum-Turiaf-Brown group? On the other hand, how well do you think that a Bryant-West-Chandler trio would do over an entire season? I think that Bryant-West-Chandler (plus some quality reserves, which both the Lakers and Hornets have) would have the best record in the NBA (not just the West), easily winning more than 60 games in an 82 game season; the Bryant-Gasol Lakers without Bynum were winning games at a pace that projects to 65 wins in 82 games and that duo did not even have the benefit of a training camp, let alone playing together for a previous season the way that Paul-West-Chandler have. It is difficult for a coaching staff to get one rotation of players to perform cohesively, let alone to make major adjustments to that rotation while a season is in progress. It is remarkable that the Lakers have the record that they do considering the frequent changes that they have had to make at the center position. Bryant and Coach Phil Jackson deserve a lot of credit for the Lakers’ success this season. Yes, Lamar Odom (14.2 ppg, 10.6 rpg) has played well for the Lakers most of the season, particularly recently, but Paul’s third option, Peja Stojakovic, has also been productive, averaging 16.0 ppg while ranking sixth in the NBA in three point shooting (.455). Perhaps the most striking statistic is that the Lakers’ 10-7 record this season without both Gasol and Bynum projects to a 48-34 record over an entire season. That winning percentage is even more impressive when you look at the Lakers’ schedule in those 17 games: they went 7-4 on the road and 3-3 at home. The road losses were to the Spurs, the Mavs, the Pistons and the Rockets (during Houston’s 22 game winning streak), while the home losses were to the Suns, the Cavs and the Warriors. There is not a weak team in that group. The Lakers’ road wins during that stretch included the Raptors, the Mavs, the Jazz (snapping Utah’s franchise-record home winning streak) and the Warriors. Considering how much the Lakers’ schedule without Gasol and Bynum was heavily slanted toward road games against good teams, it is not unreasonable to suggest that they were playing like a 50-plus win team during that stretch; a 7-4 road record is very, very strong. The Hornets travel to L.A. on April 11 for a game that may very well decide not only who gets the top seed in the West but also who wins this year’s MVP award. Even if Gasol and Bynum are both available for that game they will each have just come back from extended absences due to injuries. Regardless of what happens in that game, MVP voters should seriously consider how well the Lakers have performed during each of their “three” seasons. Unless they believe that Paul would have had the Hornets atop the West with Turiaf and Brown logging heavy duty at center then they should vote for Bryant, who has been by far the best player for each version of this year’s Lakers."
That article really underplays 1) the impact of Odom, & 2, how fastly superior the Lakers are in spots 5 to about 12. The NO rotation players of Peterson (who starts), Pargo, Butler, Bobby J-Wells/James, Butler, Ely, Wright, who would all get less if not zero minutes on the Lakers. So yes the Lakers have had more injuries, but they have a better, deeper squad. Chris Paul has a better on court off court, and a bigger differential in performance at his position. Granted the differences are not huge, but they substantiate Paul's impact is at least around the same impact if not more http://www.82games.com/ Thus to the victor (1st seed), should go the spoils. Paul has much tougher finishing schedule as well. If they get the #1 WC seed, they will earn it and he should get the MVP
My definition of MVP is someone who helps their team win no matter how much they score. Although I don't like his personality, Chris Paul helps his team win. Cleveland is only 4th in the East. That's not saying much.
I'm kind of surprised that theres no T-mac on the list. I think he deserves the MVP more than LeBron. Out of those three I would have voted for Kobe but, he has a better team now with Gasol. So, I would vote for Chris Paul because he has launched the hornets into the playoffs with his outstanding play.
Perfectly said, plus if kobe were in Hornets instead of Paul, I can gurantee West will become less effective because kobe's hogging the ball so much! I dont get why people always ignore the impact of Lamar Odom, he is the unsung hero of the lakers squad night in night out. When the lakers lost he is always the one to blame whereas the lakers won kobe gets the credits and people just overlooked Odom's rebounds, assists, defense and scoring!
Yeah Kobe sure did ballhog when Gasol or Bynum were in the middle. Lamar Odom is a glorified garbage man, he plays well against run and gun small ball teams but against defensive teams that have bigs he becomes a big stiff, he's also a huge choke artist.. anyways we've seen how well Lamar Odom played as a second option and that resulted to a .500 team, he does not mesh well with Kobe's game and Kobe has been more than willing to share the ball with his teammates but Lamar is just not aggressive.
Yep. Odom is a legit 2nd star and he has only missed 5 games. Plus the article completely discounts LA's bench, which many consider to be one of the best in the league. NO's bench is weak, and was even weaker before they traded for Wells and Jackson.
and LMAO about his defense! He is a liability on the defensive end! He is too slow to defend guards and is too weak to defend true power forwards.
I think Ginobli should be considered.........Just to many stars on that team..........But hes the leader.........Not Duncan
Hate to say it. here is my top 5. 5) Dwight Howard 4) Lebron James 3) Kevin Garnett 2) Chris Paul 1) Kobe Bryant
uh...why isn't yao on this ballot??? in all seriousness, i'd take kobe. call me crazy but the last 10 games or so will dictate whether or not he wins it. will his temper and another technical cost his team a lost AND game out? can he be a true leader and "will" his way to the top seed without gasol/bynum? hmm...
Glorified garbage man could be used to describe Chandler, or Marion (particularly your choking reference). Still, it is nice to have these guys and Odom's all around contributions (facillitator, rebounder, defender, court leadership/effort, occasional scorer) are very much underestimated.
This is my list: 1) KG 2) CP3 3) Kobe 4) Dwight Howard (He leads a Orlando team with a few good players) 5) Lebron 6) Tmac (I would put Tmac in 5th but he is a little inconsistent)
