MVP Article

[Bruno]

Thanks reader for the link and the info.
No 24/12/6 player with a 65-17 team this year = Kobe deserves to be MVP.

[mavsfan1000]

Nash doesn't play defense. That's why he is not a top 5 player or top 5 valuable player to the nba. The suns won't be able to play their game but they still would score. Dirk out would take away Dallas's outside threat and no one else on the Mavericks are a go to player. That means Dallas is in just as bad shape. Without Lebron the Cavs are in some serious . They might be last place again. Kobe same thing. The most overlooked player is Dwyane Wade. Even without Shaq the Heat were able to win half their games. Wade has been carrying some players that have been known to being chemistry killers.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

Wade should not garner top 5 MVP consideration. I think the Heat would be the same team(record-wise) if you subbed out Wade for say Redd or Ben Gordon...

[mavsfan1000]

Wade should not garner top 5 MVP consideration. I think the Heat would be the same team(record-wise) if you subbed out Wade for say Redd or Ben Gordon...

You seriously need to watch some Heat games and see how much Wade does for Miami. He has no weaknesses and is able to score at will. His most underrated part of his game is his passing. He is able to get a lot of open look to other players. You can't blame Wade for his teams poor outside shooting. Ben Gordon or Redd? That is laughable right there to say they would be the same team with those players.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

And yet they still play .500 ball without Shaq...

[baseline bum]

If Kobe didn't score 81, would people still be talking about him? Yeah, I thought so.

Yes. Beating Dallas 62-61 through three quarters, as well as that 30 foot fadeaway game-winner in Dallas aren't going to be forgotten.

[mavsfan1000]

That was a tough part of the schedule for Miami when they went .500. I think the Heat would be a 45-50 win team without Shaq. Wade doesn't have any players that you would want on a team except for Alonzo Mourning. Walker is a cancer and plays poor defense, Jason Williams is a poor decision maker and plays poor defense, Posey doesn't do much at all and is overrated on defense, Payton is over the hill and can't play defense. Put in Redd or Gordon without Shaq and the Heat don't make the playoffs.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

Seriously? Miami a 50 win team without Shaq? Highly, highly debatable...

.500 ball without Shaq, +24 with him(.700)

Is there any doubt who the real MVP of the Heat is?

[mavsfan1000]

Seriously? Miami a 50 win team without Shaq? Highly, highly debatable...

.500 ball without Shaq, +24 with him(.700)

Is there any doubt who the real MVP of the Heat is?

The Heat without Wade would be in trouble. Shaq is not able to take the load of the offense like he used to. Since Wade hasn't missed many games it is hard to know how they would do but I think they would win between 42-45 games. The Heat last year in the playoffs did fine without Shaq if you remember. Like I said they went through a tough part of the schedule when Shaq was out this year. Anyways Alonzo would fill in for Shaq better than Walker filling in for Wade.

[Darrin]

it basically goes to the constant problem with the mvp award as to how you define it. if you're looking at simply what player is the most valuable to their team, then sure, it would be idiocy not to consider kobe. but that's not traditionally how the award has been determined. voters have generally considered it more as who is the mvp of the teams that are actually good. by that rationale, kobe doesn't qualify because the lakers are god awful.

1955-56: Bob Pet : 25.7 ppg, 16.2 rpg for the 33-39 St. Louis Hawks.
1975-76: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 27.7 ppg, 16.9 rpg, 5.0 apg, and 4.12 bpg for the 40-42 Los Angeles Lakers.
1981-82: Moses Malone: 31.1 ppg, 14.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.54 bpg for the 46-36 Houston Rockets.
1987-88: Michael Jordan: 35.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, and 3.2 spg for the 50-32 Chicago Bulls.

Those aren't the only examples, just the best.

2005-06: Kobe Bryant: 35.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.5 apg, and 1.81 spg for the 44-37 Los Angeles Lakers.

[Spurologist]

Dirk out would take away Dallas's outside threat and no one else on the Mavericks are a go to player. That means Dallas is in just as bad shape.

True about the outside threat, but the glass isn't half empty. The mavs are stocked with talent and that will guarantee them a playoff spot. They would still be in great shape. But you still can't ignore Dirk's season. He has played great ball all year, but I just think kobe is ahead of him.

[Darrin]

What Kobe Bryant needs to do to win this award is beyond me. They keep moving the goal posts on him. He wins with Shaquille O'Neal, and it's not because of Bryant. Now that they are back to winning with Bryant, because he's not contending for a Championship, he can't have the award. Why? This is a top-five talent of this generation, and he's never seen the Most Valuable Player Award.

These are his statistics as the Lakers were making the NBA Finals four seasons in five, and winning three NBA Championships:

1999-00: 22.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.9 apg, and 1.61 spg for the 67-15 LA Lakers.
2000-01: 28.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.0 apg, and 1.68 spg for the 56-26 LA Lakers.
2001-02: 25.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.5 apg, and 1.48 spg for the 58-28 LA Lakers.
2002-03: 30.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.9 apg, and 2.21 spg for the 50-32 LA Lakers.
2003-04: 24.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 5.1 apg, and 1.79 spg for the 56-26 LA Lakers.

Historically, Bryant's statistics this season match up with the great scorers in league history:

Most Points in a single season:
1. Wilt Chamberlain - 4,029 (1960-61)
2. Wilt Chamberlain - 3,586 (1961-62)
3. Michael Jordan - 3,041 (1985-86)
4. Wilt Chamberlain - 3,033 (1959-60)
5. Wilt Chamberlain - 2,948 (1962-63)
6. Michael Jordan - 2,868 (1986-87)
7. Bob McAdoo - 2,831 (1973-74)
8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 2,822 (1970-71)
9. Kobe Bryant - 2,797 (2005-06)*
10. Rick Barry - 2,775 (1965-66)

Every player on that list, except Rick Barry, won a Most Valuable Player Award. Three of those five players have multiple MVPs. With 2 games left to play (roughly 70 more points) he is on course for a top-seven scoring season, perhaps top-six. His scoring average is top-9 as well.

This is in addition to hitting the 60-point mark at least twice this season, and logging the second-best single game performance in NBA history. If Bryant were to win the award, he wouldn't be anywhere near the worst record for the MVP's team. That belongs to the inaguaral winner, Bob Pet . His team finished six games under .500 at 33-39. In 1976, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award with a 40-42 record. What is so striking about Jabbar's winning is that he had already garnered the award twice.

Many Houston Rockets fans were upset that Hakeem Olajuwon, the eventual Finals MVP and member of the NBA Championship team, didn't win the award over David Robinson in 1994-95. Olajuwon's team would finish with a 47-35 record, or about 4 more wins than Bryant's team has currently.

This isn't really a hotbed issue in my mind. The only reason Bryant isn't winning this award hands-down is because of people's perception of the man, not because he isn't qualified for the award.

If not Bryant, a deserving talent, Chauncey Billups should win it.

[mavsfan1000]

True about the outside threat, but the glass isn't half empty. The mavs are stocked with talent and that will guarantee them a playoff spot. They would still be in great shape. But you still can't ignore Dirk's season. He has played great ball all year, but I just think kobe is ahead of him.

I'll admit it. Kobe is more valuable to the lakers than Dirk is to the mavs if you count on how many more games the lakers would lose compared to the mavs but Nash I disagree with. Barbosa, House, and Diaw can all run the point and will do enough for Suns to get in the playoffs.

[1Parker1]

This isn't really a hotbed issue in my mind. The only reason Bryant isn't winning this award hands-down is because of people's perception of the man, not because he isn't qualified for the award.

Couldn't agree more. I'm not a Kobe fan myself, but any other player in the Western Conference with a 45 win team average 35 ppg and who's scored 81 points would be getting a lot more respect.

[1Parker1]

I'll admit it. Kobe is more valuable to the lakers than Dirk is to the mavs if you count on how many more games the lakers would lose compared to the mavs

Whoa. You finally got it! Maybe there is hope for you. I thought you were a blind homer....

[Pandaemonaeon]

Yes. Beating Dallas 62-61 through three quarters, as well as that 30 foot fadeaway game-winner in Dallas aren't going to be forgotten.

I meant in MVP talk, because that was sure as impressive and worth talking about.

For anyone who said that Marion was the MVP needed to watch that game. Suns were hopeless without Nash, their game looked completely different out there.

They missed a lot of pick-and-rolls and switching obviously but I thought they weren't that bad. They were kicking Golden State's ass for 2 1/2 quarters before their lack of defense caught up to them. But I think yesterday's game was living proof that Nash's teammates aren't chopped liver. Anytime you have a guy like Diaw who's better than most PGs in the realm of passing and getting everyone else involved, you're in good hands for a couple of games.

[1Parker1]

They missed a lot of pick-and-rolls and switching obviously but I thought they weren't that bad. They were kicking Golden State's ass for 2 1/2 quarters before their lack of defense caught up to them. But I think yesterday's game was living proof that Nash's teammates aren't chopped liver. Anytime you have a guy like Diaw who's better than most PGs in the realm of passing and getting everyone else involved, you're in good hands for a couple of games.

Were you watching the same game as me? Suns were down something like 27 points against the Lakers...a team which they've crushed in all their previous meetings this season with Nash in the lineup.

[mike detroit]

You seriously need to watch some Heat games and see how much Wade does for Miami. He has no weaknesses and is able to score at will. .

no weaknesses? you must not consider defense to be part of the game. He has all the physical tools to be a good defender, but right now he's piss poor.