NBA MVP Is Kobe the right choice?

On the day after the announcement of the MVP of the NBA I wanted to dissect whether or not Kobe is the right choice for THIS season. Most Valuable Player for the 2007-2008 season should go to the person with the best statistics but also who was most important in his team being a success. There were 4 clear cut choices for this award, Kobe, Lebron, Chris Paul (CP3) and Kevin Garnett (KG). I will look at each and give pros and cons for there winning the award and ultimately my choice for MVP.

KG: Big men never win this award. For some reason rebounds and blocks are not as valued despite the fact that they are much harder to come by then assists. KG was very important to his squad, but in reality the Celtics are a playoff team without him. He is what will make them champions, but is that the definition for MVP? He is one of the top 2 big men in the sport and is always in the equation for MVP, but this year there was 3 candidates more worthy.

LeBron: Awesome stats and clearly the superstar franchise player. People in Cleveland and across the US come to see LeBron, not Larry Hughes, Big Z, Daniel Gibson or Ben Wallace. He is a superstar and will be in the equation as well for MVP for many years. He in some ways is a young version of Kobe, always in the mix and so good that people assume he will put up certain numbers. He is tough as nails and has a great game. But like Kobe, he will not win the award right way simply because of who he is, and who others in the league have built themselves to be. You see this award CLAIMS to be for an individual season, but in reality it factors in body of work. If this was not the case, Kobe would have multiple MVP's and LeBron would have already won one.

CP3: Poor Chris may not win this award until Kobe retires. He is dominant and makes his team better. Tyson Chandler was a bum before coming to Memphis. David Wesley was an average shooter turned all-star when playing with CP3. To me CP3 is the epitome of an MVP. I guy who gets the best from his team, while playing at a level higher then all of them and making big plays when the pressure is on. Notice I said big plays not big buckets. One of CP3 biggest strengths is his ability to share the ball, putting teammates in awesome positions to score. That being said he also is one of the top off the dribble players in the game and extremely creative on his drive plays. Alas he will not win the award for a few more years as it is political and let's face it, a 22 year old who loves to share playing in Memphis doesn't have the exposure that others do.

Kobe: The best player in the game who has not won an MVP. Well that now goes to LeBron. Kobe won the award in a huge landslide which further emphasizes the fact that this is political and not a single season vote. If it were this would have been much closer between Kobe, CP3 and LeBron. That said, Kobe should have won the award. Heck even he wanted out of LA in the beginning of this season, so the fact that they finished as the top seed in the tougher conference is enough for me. He is a brilliant scorer both in the clutch and when the team is down. He plays tough defense, can drive hit the J or blast you from 3 land. He shared much more this year mainly due to the fact that he had competent people around him that he felt could score if passed too. Kobe is your MVP, and that is the correct call. It should have been closer, but the voters still got there man.