Kobe huge favorite to win MVP according to one gambling site

[Phil Hellmuth]

http://www.oddschecker.com/basketball/nba/nba-championship-2008/mvp

[mavsfan1000]

Lebron is the MVP

[LakerMagic]

Its Kobe this year.

[Allanon]

Lebron is the MVP

You can't be MVP when you are 41-33 in the EAST. We're talking about the East here and he doesn't even have 50 wins yet. Bring that weak S*$! to the West and Lebron's sitting in the 10th spot in the West.

Hell, Kobe took Smush Parker and and Kwame Brown and the All ScrubStar Team to the Playoffs in the West last year with a similar record.

Kobe will win if they stay a top 3 seed...Lakers have been missing 2 starters, Kobe has a torn pinkie and they are still in the running for #1 WC seed.

CP3 might win if Hornets get #1 seed in the West.

KG can't win because of Paul Pierce.

Don't get me wrong, LeBron is an awesome player but he won't win MVP until his team wins at least 55 games in the East.

[Pistons < Spurs]

Kobe.

[mavsfan1000]

You can't be MVP when you are 41-33 in the EAST. We're talking about the East here and he doesn't even have 50 wins yet. Bring that weak S*$! to the West and Lebron's sitting in the 10th spot in the West.

Hell, Kobe took Smush Parker and and Kwame Brown and the All ScrubStar Team to the Playoffs in the West last year with a similar record.

Kobe will win if they stay a top 3 seed...Lakers have been missing 2 starters, Kobe has a torn pinkie and they are still in the running for #1 WC seed.

CP3 might win if Hornets get #1 seed in the West.

KG can't win because of Paul Pierce.

Don't get me wrong, LeBron is an awesome player but he won't win MVP until his team wins at least 55 games in the East.
Kobe always has had talent around him. The lakers are loaded now. Even when they barely made the playoffs he had talent. Caron Butler and Odom. Now he has Gasol, Bynum, Odom, and Fisher. :lol He isn't the MVP.

[DazedAndConfused]

Kobe has always had talent???

HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAH. That statement doesn't even warrant a response. You sir are a moron.

[Phil Hellmuth]

Kobe always has had talent around him.


:lol :lol :lol :lol

past 2 seasons:

when smushy was on the team?

when Luke walton looked like a great player only because of the crap around him?

brian "i can't dribble or play defense or move" cook

Kwame "i can't catch, and i miss easy putbacks" Brown

[Allanon]

Kobe always has had talent around him. The lakers are loaded now. Even when they barely made the playoffs he had talent. Caron Butler and Odom. Now he has Gasol, Bynum, Odom, and Fisher. :lol He isn't the MVP.

Kobe always had talent? I said it was the AllScrubTeam last year 2006-2007:

Guard: Smush Parker
SForward: Luke Walton
PForward: Lamar Odom
Center: Kwame Brown

Look at that, you have 3 Starters who would have a hard time getting off the bench on most NBA teams.

Bench
OK Bench Players: Ronny, 1 foul per minute, Mo Evans was OK
All of these Bench guys sucked: Jordan Farmar, Vujacic, Brian Cook, Aaron Mckie, Von Wafer, Devin Green, Shammond Williams, Radmonovic, Chris Mihm, Bynum

Last year's Laker Playoff team was FAR WORSE than LeBron's team this year and they still have a similar record.

[Findog]

Kobe or Chris Paul. Either one.

[ducks]

tp is on fire

[O-Factor]

You can't be MVP when you are 41-33 in the EAST. We're talking about the East here and he doesn't even have 50 wins yet. Bring that weak S*$! to the West and Lebron's sitting in the 10th spot in the West.



Kobe has better talent surrounding him than Lebron. That is obvious. Does that count for anything? The thing that is so attractive about Lebron is that he is a far better team player than Kobe. Besides the Cavs have suffered injuries this year too.

[Allanon]

Kobe has better talent surrounding him than Lebron. That is obvious. Does that count for anything? The thing that is so attractive about Lebron is that he is a far better team player than Kobe. Besides the Cavs have suffered injuries this year too.

In the past, I agree that LeBron's been a better team player than Kobe but not this year. Whereas Kobe has become a much better team player, LeBron has reverted a bit to a one man show. Add to that, LeBron's team this year is better than Kobe's team last year so there's no excuse for not having a better record than they currently have in a weak East.

And probably THE reason Kobe gets MVP over LeBron? LeBron sat out something like 7 games watching his team lose with just a mildly sprained hand. Kobe has a torn pinkie on his shooting hand but put off surgery just to ensure that his team keeps winning. That's MVP legend kind of stuff.

Kobe's MVP is practically locked up, only thing that might stop him would be CP3 getting the #1 seed in the West.

[TheMACHINE]

HAHAH...KOBE ALWAYS HAD TALENT...WTF

Smush Parker
Kobe Bryant
Luke Walton
Lamar Odom
Kwame Brown

[Xylus]

Chris Paul would get my vote, if my vote mattered.

[Gino]

1. Chris Paul
2. LeBron
3. Kobe

LeBron's situation is different than Kobe the last couple of years. Kobe was criticized for shooting too much and hurting his team in the grand scheme of things.

No one can say that about LeBron. What more could you ask from a player than to get 30, 8, and 7. Not to metion he shoots a better percentage than Kobe and has a lesser turnover rate.

I only pick Paul over LeBron considering the remarkable season the Hornets have had in such a competitive conference and how much he's directly responsible. Leads the league in assists and steals and still manages to score 20 points a game.

Whats the argument for Kobe? He scored 81 points a couple of years ago so he deserves one now?

[LakeShow]

kobe

[Allanon]

1. Chris Paul
2. LeBron
3. Kobe

LeBron's situation is different than Kobe the last couple of years. Kobe was criticized for shooting too much and hurting his team in the grand scheme of things.
If Kobe didn't shoot the ball last year, who do you think should shoot it? Kwame Brown? Smush Parker? Von Wafer? Luke Walton? Chris Mihm? Rony Turiaf? Lamar Odom who misses 1 foot layups? Devin Green? Sasha couldn't make a shot to save his life, Farmar was still a rookie.

Look at their shooting percentages that year, that was a terrible team on offense. I'd rather see Kobe jack up 30 shots than see Luke Walton shooting threes, Kwame fumbling passes, Odom missing point blank layups.



No one can say that about LeBron. What more could you ask from a player than to get 30, 8, and 7. Not to metion he shoots a better percentage than Kobe and has a lesser turnover rate.
He plays in the East, come to the West and see if he can average those numbers and fg%.



I only pick Paul over LeBron considering the remarkable season the Hornets have had in such a competitive conference and how much he's directly responsible. Leads the league in assists and steals and still manages to score 20 points a game.
In the East, it's impossible for LeBron to win MVP with less than 50 wins. If he hadn't sat out all those games with a mild hand sprain, he'd have a chance at 50.

CP3 has not faced adversity this year. His entire team has been relatively healthy. The starting 5 is about as talented as any other elite starting 5. There were no long term injuries to key players. As such, if they continue on and win out the West, Paul has about a 35% chance of winning MVP.



Whats the argument for Kobe? He scored 81 points a couple of years ago so he deserves one now?
Lakers will win about 55+ games
Lakers have a great shot at #1 in the West with an easy remaining schedule

Lakers have been playing without 2 Starters and are only 1.5 games behind #1 in a competitive West. Not scrub starters either, the #2 options This is an incredible feat...how many teams can still be at the top of the West with 2 starters out? Take Duncan off the Spurs for 20 days and TP for 2 months and see where they'd be. Or CP3 without Chandler for 2 months and Peja for 20 days. Or KG and Ray Allen off the Celtics...oh wait, we already know what that's like :D.

All Kobe's teammates are having career years because Kobe's trusting them and giving them open looks. He passes the "makes teammates better" test this year with flying colors.

Kobe only has to remain a top 3 seed to win the MVP but my gut feeling is that the Lakers will take #1 in the West with Hornets dropping to #3 or #5.

[MajorMike]

Hey, Lakeshow, that picture needs to show a girl in a costume representing Paula Abdul as a Laker legend, her name hangs in the rafters with the other greats.

[ElNono]

This is an incredible feat...how many teams can still be at the top of the West with 2 starters out? Take Duncan off the Spurs for 20 days and TP for 2 months and see where they'd be.

FYI, Duncan was out for about 2 weeks, and Parker was out twice this year, the first time while Duncan was also out, and the second time recently. Manu was also out for a week or two (I can't recall how long right now).

So basically, to answer your question, we would be number 2 in the west, 1 game behind NO, and above the Lakers.

[Gino]

If Kobe didn't shoot the ball last year, who do you think should shoot it? Kwame Brown? Smush Parker? Von Wafer? Luke Walton? Chris Mihm? Rony Turiaf? Lamar Odom who misses 1 foot layups? Devin Green? Sasha couldn't make a shot to save his life, Farmar was still a rookie.

Look at their shooting percentages that year, that was a terrible team on offense. I'd rather see Kobe jack up 30 shots than see Luke Walton shooting threes, Kwame fumbling passes, Odom missing point blank layups.


He plays in the East, come to the West and see if he can average those numbers and fg%.


In the East, it's impossible for LeBron to win MVP with less than 50 wins. If he hadn't sat out all those games with a mild hand sprain, he'd have a chance at 50.

CP3 has not faced adversity this year. His entire team has been relatively healthy. The starting 5 is about as talented as any other elite starting 5. There were no long term injuries to key players. As such, if they continue on and win out the West, Paul has about a 35% chance of winning MVP.


Lakers will win about 55+ games
Lakers have a great shot at #1 in the West with an easy remaining schedule

Lakers have been playing without 2 Starters and are only 1.5 games behind #1 in a competitive West. Not scrub starters either, the #2 options This is an incredible feat...how many teams can still be at the top of the West with 2 starters out? Take Duncan off the Spurs for 20 days and TP for 2 months and see where they'd be. Or CP3 without Chandler for 2 months and Peja for 20 days. Or KG and Ray Allen off the Celtics...oh wait, we already know what that's like :D.

All Kobe's teammates are having career years because Kobe's trusting them and giving them open looks. He passes the "makes teammates better" test this year with flying colors.

Kobe only has to remain a top 3 seed to win the MVP but my gut feeling is that the Lakers will take #1 in the West with Hornets dropping to #3 or #5.

Theres a LOT of stuff there, so Im just going to address a couple.

1. Which Lakers are having career years? Is Odom having a career year? Walton? Radman? Kwame Brown?

The only players that are having "career" years are Bynum, Sasha and Farmar which is what usually happens when young players start to mature. Its not as if Kobe is turning around the careers of players or bringing veterans to new heights.


2. Has Kobe carried the team on his back while other players have been out.

Have the Lakers over-achieved when Gasol and Bynum have been out?

The truth is the Lakers have been mediocre without Gasol and Bynum. Nash carried the Suns without Amare two years ago.

3. I would agree that the Hornets haven't had as many injuries as the Lakers, but that doesn't mean that Paul hasn't done a better job at helping his team win than Kobe.

4. Most of your "if LeBron was in the west" stuff is completely hypothetical and not worth arguing over. The fact is that LeBron has outperformed Kobe this year.

[Xylus]

Theres a LOT of stuff there, so Im just going to address a couple.

1. Which Lakers are having career years? Is Odom having a career year? Walton? Radman? Kwame Brown?

The only players that are having "career" years are Bynum, Sasha and Farmar which is what usually happens when young players start to mature. Its not as if Kobe is turning around the careers of players or bringing veterans to new hights.

Have the Lakers over-achieved when Gasol has been out?

2. Has Kobe carried the team on his back while other players have been out.

The truth is the Lakers have been mediocre without Gasol and Bynum. Nash carried the Suns without Amare two years ago. That was why he was the MVP that year.

3. I would agree that the Hornets haven't had as many injuries as the Lakers, but that doesn't mean that Paul hasn't done a better job at helping his team win than Kobe.

4. Most of your "if LeBron was in the west" stuff is completely hypothetical and not worth arguing over. The fact is that LeBron has outperformed Kobe this year.
1. Agreed.
2. Agreed.
3. Agreed.
4. Agreed.

[Allanon]

FYI, Duncan was out for about 2 weeks, and Parker was out twice this year, the first time while Duncan was also out, and the second time recently. Manu was also out for a week or two (I can't recall how long right now).

So basically, to answer your question, we would be number 2 in the west, 1 game behind NO, and above the Lakers.

Duncan has only missed 4 games this year. Tony 13 games. = 17 games total

So maybe the Spurs had 2-3 games without 2 of their starters.

Pau has missed missed 10 games. Bynum has missed about 40 games = 50 games between them two.

It's not even close in comparison so that really doesn't answer the question.

[LakeShow]

Hey, Lakeshow, that picture needs to show a girl in a costume representing Paula Abdul as a Laker legend, her name hangs in the rafters with the other greats.
Forever our girl! :lol

http://www.koldcast.tv/video/386

[Allanon]

Gino, you bring up some good points, I had to look up the answers:


1. Which Lakers are having career years? Is Odom having a career year? Walton? Radman? Kwame Brown?

Odom Yes. He's shooting his best percentages of his career 51% and he's one of the league rebounding leaders. And his turnovers are the lowest they've ever been. Odom this year is playing the best basketball he has ever played.

Luke, No. But at the same time, Luke is no longer a starter. Coming from the bench, this is his second best career year. His best year was as a starter...so it's hard to compare if he WAS a starter, would he have a career year.

Radman. Yes. He's shooting at the highest FG% of his career, 45%. For the last 1-2 months, Rad's been playing some very good basketball. If you extrapolate and project his lower minutes, he's having a career year.

Fisher, yes. Let's add in Derek Fisher for good measure. Fisher is straight up playing the best he's EVER played in all his years as a Laker.

Kwame. Kwame is not a Laker.



The only players that are having "career" years are Bynum, Sasha and Farmar which is what usually happens when young players start to mature. Its not as if Kobe is turning around the careers of players or bringing veterans to new heights.
Young players usually do NOT mature. Most NBA draft picks flame out and are out of the NBA in 3-4 years. Kobe as a leader can take credit for making sure that Bynum, Sasha and Farmar matured. Look around the NBA, how many draft picks actually mature into quality NBA players? It's no coincidence that all 3 of these guys are Kobe's teammates. Add in Ronny Turiaf too...he was only an energizer bunny before but Kobe's constant open post feeds to him is giving Ronny a career year too.



3. I would agree that the Hornets haven't had as many injuries as the Lakers, but that doesn't mean that Paul hasn't done a better job at helping his team win than Kobe.
Agreed...CP3's done a fine job and that's why I consider him #2 in the MVP race. He just didn't deal with adversity which Kobe did so that gives Kobe the edge in this area.



4. Most of your "if LeBron was in the west" stuff is completely hypothetical and not worth arguing over. The fact is that LeBron has outperformed Kobe this year.
It's not hypothetical. Let's forget for a second that most of the East sucks so let's take the records at face value. Just do a simple team swap East to West. #9 Warriors would be #3 in the East and Lebron #4 in the East would be at home watching the Playoffs from his couch if he were in the West. Gaudy numbers or not, LeBron is not winning as many games as Kobe or CP3. He's only winning as many games as Kobe did last year and Kobe had the worst WC Playoff team I've ever seen.


Has Kobe carried the team while Pau and Bynum were out
Yes, just look at their record, they're still floating at the top. Mediocre? Nah, they lost to bad teams...but they beat most of the Playoff teams. Since Pau went out, Houston and Warriors are the only 2 Playoff teams that beat them.

Losing to bad teams has always been a Laker habit for some strange reason.

[stretch]

HAHAH...KOBE ALWAYS HAD TALENT...WTF

Smush Parker
Kobe Bryant
Luke Walton
Lamar Odom
Kwame Brown
Odom is a HELL of a lot more talented than anyone that Lebron has ever had alongside him.

Now I will say this... In terms of individual talent, Lebron the past years has had some more individually talented players, except for Odom, but in terms of the team around him... Kobe's teams are were a little more balanced and well built, so they pretty much even each other out. but the coaching is COMPLETELY tipped in Kobe's favor. that isn't even remotely close. and the amount of success is completely tipped in Lebron's favor. Sure, he may play in the east, he still always stepped up when he needed to, and made sure his team was able to beat elite teams like San Antonio, Dallas, Detroit, which matters more, than beating a bunch of garbage teams in the East. If they are capable of consistently beating elite teams, then thats what matters most.

Put it like this...

Lebron's surrounding talent and build = Kobe's surrounding talent and build

Lebron's success >>> Kobe's success

Lebron's coaching <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Kobe's coaching

I'm taking Lebron.

[DazedAndConfused]

Gino, you bring up some good points, I had to look up the answers:



Odom Yes. He's shooting his best percentages of his career 51% and he's one of the league rebounding leaders. And his turnovers are the lowest they've ever been. Odom this year is playing the best basketball he has ever played.

Luke, No. But at the same time, Luke is no longer a starter. Coming from the bench, this is his second best career year. His best year was as a starter...so it's hard to compare if he WAS a starter, would he have a career year.

Radman. Yes. He's shooting at the highest FG% of his career, 45%. For the last 1-2 months, Rad's been playing some very good basketball. If you extrapolate and project his lower minutes, he's having a career year.

Fisher, yes. Let's add in Derek Fisher for good measure. Fisher is straight up playing the best he's EVER played in all his years as a Laker.

Kwame. Kwame is not a Laker.


Young players usually do NOT mature. Most NBA draft picks flame out and are out of the NBA in 3-4 years. Kobe as a leader can take credit for making sure that Bynum, Sasha and Farmar matured. Look around the NBA, how many draft picks actually mature into quality NBA players? It's no coincidence that all 3 of these guys are Kobe's teammates. Add in Ronny Turiaf too...he was only an energizer bunny before but Kobe's constant open post feeds to him is giving Ronny a career year too.


Agreed...CP3's done a fine job and that's why I consider him #2 in the MVP race. He just didn't deal with adversity which Kobe did so that gives Kobe the edge in this area.


It's not hypothetical. Let's forget for a second that most of the East sucks so let's take the records at face value. Just do a simple team swap East to West. #9 Warriors would be #3 in the East and Lebron #4 in the East would be at home watching the Playoffs from his couch if he were in the West. Gaudy numbers or not, LeBron is not winning as many games as Kobe or CP3. He's only winning as many games as Kobe did last year and Kobe had the worst WC Playoff team I've ever seen.


Yes, just look at their record, they're still floating at the top. Mediocre? Nah, they lost to bad teams...but they beat most of the Playoff teams. Since Pau went out, Houston and Warriors are the only 2 Playoff teams that beat them.

Losing to bad teams has always been a Laker habit for some strange reason.

Damn that's some good ol' fashioned ownage right there. Nothing like FACTS to smack you upside the face and make you realize what an idiot you are.

Gino, let it go.....you've clearly embarrassed yourself enough in this thread. Stick to what you know, the Celtics. KG might not win the MVP, but you know he's locked up a spot on the 1st team All-Thug NBA.

[Gino]

Gino, you bring up some good points, I had to look up the answers:

Odom Yes. He's shooting his best percentages of his career 51% and he's one of the league rebounding leaders. And his turnovers are the lowest they've ever been. Odom this year is playing the best basketball he has ever played.

Odom is having his second worst scoring season in his career. In fact, Odom is below his career averages in points, assists and free throw percentage. He is having his best f/g percentage , but the Lakers haven't utilized this enough as his scoring is down. He is having his best rebounding season, but I don't see how this could have anything to do with Kobe.



Luke, No. But at the same time, Luke is no longer a starter. Coming from the bench, this is his second best career year. His best year was as a starter...so it's hard to compare if he WAS a starter, would he have a career year.

Radman. Yes. He's shooting at the highest FG% of his career, 45%. For the last 1-2 months, Rad's been playing some very good basketball. If you extrapolate and project his lower minutes, he's having a career year.

Kwame. Kwame is not a Laker.

Radman is below his career averages in scoring and rebounding even though he already has his second most number of starts in his entire career.
Kwame was injured most of the season before he was traded so I won't argue with you there.



Young players usually do NOT mature. Most NBA draft picks flame out and are out of the NBA in 3-4 years. Kobe as a leader can take credit for making sure that Bynum, Sasha and Farmar matured. Look around the NBA, how many draft picks actually mature. It's no coincidence that all 3 of these guys are Kobe's teammates. Add in Ronny Turiaf too...he was only an energizer bunny before but Kobe's constant open post feeds to him is giving him HIS career year too.

The only argument I could buy is that Kobe's off-season comments made Bynum improve his game. However, I don't think Kobe made these comments to some kid at a fast food joint in hopes they would get back to Bynum. Also, Bynum's improvement probably has a lot to do with it being a contract year.

I can't really see how playing with Kobe has helped the maturity of Sasha and Farmar. I just can't. Kobe's had way too many 40 shot attempt games this season for me to honestly believe that.



Agreed...CP3's done a fine job and that's why I consider him #2 in the MVP race. He just didn't deal with adversity which Kobe did so that gives Kobe the edge in this area.


Agreed.



It's not hypothetical. Let's forget for a second that most of the East sucks so let's take the records at face value. Just do a simple team swap East to West. #9 Warriors would be #3 in the East and Lebron #4 in the East would be at home watching the Playoffs from his couch if he were in the West. Gaudy numbers or not, LeBron is not winning as many games as Kobe or CP3. He's only winning as many games as Kobe did last year and Kobe had the worst WC Playoff team I've ever seen.

I think Kobe's more talented than LeBron, but when I think of a team with Gasol, Bynum, Odom, the rest of the Lakers bench and LeBron, I can't help but think they would be a better team.

Kobe's still my number 3 considering how well the Lakers have done this year and how talented he is, but I just think the other two are still more deserving.



Yes, just look at their record, they're still floating at the top. Mediocre? Nah, they lost to bad teams...but they beat most of the Playoff teams. Since Pau went out, Houston and Warriors are the only 2 Playoff teams that beat them.
Losing to bad teams has always been a Laker habit for some strange reason.

I know they beat the Jazz and Mavs, but who else?

[Allanon]

Odom is a HELL of a lot more talented than anyone that Lebron has ever had alongside him.

LeBron's had Big Z along for the ride and Big Z's a two-time All Star.

Outside of Kobe and Lamar, the rest of the team last year was pretty much trash. LeBron had BigZ, Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, Anderson Varejao, Eric Snow. Sure they're not star players but most of them are solid NBA players and much better than Smush Parker, Kwame, Luke, Devin Green, Von Wafer, Sasha, rookie Farmar.

Lakers definitely had better coaching.

[Allanon]

Odom is having his second worst scoring season in his career. In fact, Odom is below his career averages in points, assists and free throw percentage. He is having his best f/g percentage , but the Lakers haven't utilized this enough as his scoring is down. He is having his best rebounding season, but I don't see how this could have anything to do with Kobe.
Odom's strength is not as a scorer, his strength is his all around game. This year, Odom's a beast because he's doing everything while shooting at a blistering 51%. His recent string of 20-20 games has been ridiculous "video game type numbers" from some article I read.


Radman is below his career averages in scoring and rebounding even though he already has his second most number of starts in his entire career.
It's not about the starts, its about the minutes. He's playing fewer minutes so his numbers are slightly down. Give him the same minutes and he's doing much better this year than ever.



The only argument I could buy is that Kobe's off-season comments made Bynum improve his game. However, I don't think Kobe made these comments to some kid at a fast food joint in hopes they would get back to Bynum. Also, Bynum's improvement probably has a lot to do with it being a contract year.
This is debatable and this theory has been brought up before. I don't know if it's true or not and I agree it's a stretch. But at the same time, it could have gone the reverse if Kobe wanted it to. Kobe could have been a baby and tanked the season to get his trade. He could have tried NOT to help Bynum succeed but instead, from the get go, he involved Bynum right away and gave him constant props.



I can't really see how playing with Kobe has helped the maturity of Sasha and Farmar. I just can't. Kobe's had way too many 40 shot attempt games this season for me to honestly believe that.
I don't think Kobe's had ANY 40 shot games this year, I think his highest was 33. I'm not sure where to look that up easily. But Kobe's shots have gone down this year.

2005 - 27 shots
2006 - 23 shots
2007 - 21 shots



I think Kobe's more talented than LeBron, but when I think of a team with Gasol, Bynum, Odom, the rest of the Lakers bench and LeBron, I can't help but think they would be a better team.

This is very possible, I don't know. I think in a few more years, LeBron is going to be THE man, but not just yet. His defense is sometimes there, sometimes not. He still shoots too many 3 pointers and hasn't developed the "We're going to win no matter what" attitude.

[stretch]

LeBron's had Big Z along for the ride and Big Z's a two-time All Star.

Outside of Kobe and Lamar, the rest of the team last year was pretty much trash. LeBron had BigZ, Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, Drew Gooden, Anderson Varejao, Eric Snow. Sure they're not star players but most of them are solid NBA players and much better than Smush Parker, Kwame, Luke, Devin Green, Von Wafer, Sasha, rookie Farmar.

Lakers definitely had better coaching.
Please... Z barely made the all-star in the East, which is absolutely devoid of centers. Even Jamal Magliore was an all-star once. It's not like he has to battle with loads of amazing guards and forwards like Odom has to, in order to make an all-star game.

[ElNono]

The MVP should be Lebron... it's not even close.

[Allanon]

Please... Z barely made the all-star in the East, which is absolutely devoid of centers. Even Jamal Magliore was an all-star once. It's not like he has to battle with loads of amazing guards and forwards like Odom has to, in order to make an all-star game.

I'd take Big Z right now over most of the Centers in the NBA. He's not Yao Ming but he's probably the 5th-6th best Center in the NBA.

Magloire when he was an All-Star was a very good player.

[Killakobe81]

Kobe is THE MVP

[Medvedenko]

Odom is having his second worst scoring season in his career. In fact, Odom is below his career averages in points, assists and free throw percentage. He is having his best f/g percentage , but the Lakers haven't utilized this enough as his scoring is down. He is having his best rebounding season, but I don't see how this could have anything to do with Kobe.



Radman is below his career averages in scoring and rebounding even though he already has his second most number of starts in his entire career.
Kwame was injured most of the season before he was traded so I won't argue with you there.



The only argument I could buy is that Kobe's off-season comments made Bynum improve his game. However, I don't think Kobe made these comments to some kid at a fast food joint in hopes they would get back to Bynum. Also, Bynum's improvement probably has a lot to do with it being a contract year.

I can't really see how playing with Kobe has helped the maturity of Sasha and Farmar. I just can't. Kobe's had way too many 40 shot attempt games this season for me to honestly believe that.



Agreed.



I think Kobe's more talented than LeBron, but when I think of a team with Gasol, Bynum, Odom, the rest of the Lakers bench and LeBron, I can't help but think they would be a better team.

Kobe's still my number 3 considering how well the Lakers have done this year and how talented he is, but I just think the other two are still more deserving.



I know they beat the Jazz and Mavs, but who else?

All that and Kobe still has his team winning a high clip now up to 51-24 with all of the injuries. So, if Kobe doesn't make his players better as you have stated...how the hell have they won so many games...is it all Kobe...well then you must of answered your own question. No matter how you want to slice it.....injuries, making his teammates better etc...the Lakers are a top team in the West and it all starts with Kobe.