As I've been saying, it wasn't Kobe raising his level of play that has moved the Lakers up this year. First, it was the emergence of Bynum. When the season started, the Lakers were toiling along at 9-8, just like they've been the last few years and then Bynum started getting significant minutes and that's when the team took off. Bynum went out with an injury and the Lakers went into the tank......until they added Gasol. Now, Gasol goes out and back into the tank the team is going. Bryant for MVP? Please. Living in LA, I'm loving the excuses. I just called a friend of mine to make fun after the Lakers just lost to Houston. His first response was "it doesn't count cause Gasol wasn't playing." I guess Yao Ming was playing? They've lost Ming and won 10 straight without him. Today's game was a matchup of superstars and their supporting casts. While Bryant was shooting 33 times with two assists, McGrady was shooting 16 times with six assists.
Part of being an MVP and certainly part of being the best player is making your teammates better. That is one area that Kobe Bryant has never proven himself. He's one of the greatest individual talents in the history of the game. But he's not the MVP.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
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