Its now official, the 2007-08 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) is Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was the 1st ever MVP award for Bryant, who is now on his 12th NBA season. But now a few eyebrows were raised on Bryant's winning of pro basketball's most prestigious individual award.
Many felt that the most stellar performance (impact-wise) dished out by an NBA player this past regular season is by New Orleans 3rd year gem of a point guard, Chris Paul. Paul, a 6-0 guard out of Wake Forest, was instrumental in leading the Hornets to a 56-26 win-loss mark and the Southwest Division title. Others will easily point out to the Lakers winning of the Pacific Division and best regular season slate of 57-25 in the West as the upside in Kobe's MVP selection. But remember, the tinseltown's late season surge was not an all-Kobe show but mainly due to the trade last February which sent erstwhile Memphis star Pau Gasol to the Lakers. On the other hand, CP3 was the vital cog and catalyst of a non-star Hornets squad, which is the most surprising team in the league this year and which it also netted Byron Scott the Coach of the Year honors.
For a head-to-head match-up of individual stats between Paul and Bryant, herewith is their respective '07-08 numbers :
CHRIS PAUL KOBE BRYANT
21. 1 PPG 28.3
4.0 RPG 6.3
11.6 APG 5.4
2.7 SPG 1.8
We do hope that come the next selection of the NBA MVP awardee, it will be through merits and not merely a popularity contest. Give it to the most deserving!
The battle between CP3 and Kobe for MVP, was decided by two factors
ReplyDelete1. Who ever wins the west will be the MVP and;
2. The final match between the city of angels and the big easy, and the Lakers demolish the hornets