Report: Kobe earns first MVP
Associated Press

Updated: May 3, 2008, 12:08 AM ET

LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant has won the NBA's MVP award for the first time, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday night, citing anonymous sources familiar with the outcome of voting by media members.


The newspaper reported that commissioner David Stern will be in Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

"We have not been told anything by the league," Lakers spokesman John Black told The Associated Press.

Bryant, who entered the season as the league's two-time defending scoring champion, was third in the MVP voting twice -- after the 2002-03 campaign, when he averaged 30 points for the first time, and again last season, when Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki won the award.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

This message has been edited. Last edited by: The Camera,

Where are all the Kobe haters? I guess they are somewhere praying it ain't so. I am scared this is not correct, there is a first time for everything. Somehow, I think he got this one in the bag. It would crush him if this turned out to be false information.

Report: Kobe to receive first MVP award of career
Associated Press

Updated: May 4, 2008, 4:42 PM ET

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Times' report that Kobe Bryant had won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award reached the Lakers guard at dinner.


The Lakers' players were watching the finale of the Houston-Utah first-round playoff series Friday night at a Hollywood restaurant when Bryant received an e-mail informing him he had won his first MVP. The Times reported it on its Web site Friday night, citing anonymous sources familiar with the outcome of voting by media members.

While it hasn't been made official, the honor has been expected since the completion of the regular season 2½ weeks ago, when the Bryant-led Lakers finished with a Western Conference-best 57-25 record.

League spokesman Brian McIntyre declined to confirm or deny the Times report on Saturday and wouldn't comment further.

"The game tomorrow is a beast sitting on my shoulders," Bryant said after practice Saturday, referring to the opener of the second-round series against the Jazz. "I'm reserving judgment until I hear from David Stern."

That being said, the 29-year-old Bryant didn't need much prodding to share his feelings.

"I'm very excited about it. I didn't know if it was going to happen in my career," he told reporters. "It's a great honor. It means a lot. To me, it's very special. It's very special to share it with these guys."

Bryant, who entered the season as the league's two-time defending scoring champion, had finished third in the MVP voting twice -- after the 2002-03 campaign, when he averaged 30 points for the first time, and again last season, when Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki won the award.

Lakers guard Sasha Vujacic said Bryant informed his teammates at the restaurant.

"We congratulated him," Vujacic said. "He deserved it. He told us how proud he is of the whole team."

Vujacic smiled when asked if Bryant's teammates went into an "MVP! MVP!" chant upon hearing the news.

"When he paid the bill, we did. Not before," Vujacic said.

"I bit the bullet," Bryant confirmed when asked if he picked up the check.

Bryant averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.84 steals while playing in all 82 games despite tearing a ligament in his right pinkie finger in February. A hand specialist recommended surgery, but Bryant decided to put it off until after the Olympics this summer.

He led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference and a sweep of Denver in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers open the second round Sunday against Utah at Staples Center.

Bryant, second in the NBA in scoring behind Cleveland's LeBron James, will be the first Lakers player to win the MVP award since Shaquille O'Neal was a near-unanimous choice in 2000. Other previous Lakers to win the award dating to 1956, when it was first presented, were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, who each won it three times. Abdul-Jabbar also won three with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

It must have been his turn on the list

He should have at least two by now.

quote:

Originally posted by ksmith:


He should have at least two by now.

No he shouldn't have. For the most part I think the NBA has gotten it right over the last few years. This year I felt like it came down to the final two weeks of the season when Kobe played a little better than Paul.

quote:

Originally posted by ksmith:


He should have at least two by now.

I don't think that is accurate based on the way the voting has gone historically.

If you look at all the players who have won the MVP, you find that all of them won the award while playing on teams that had one of the best records in the NBA.

This year, the Lakers had the best record in the West so Kobe won the award just like last year when the Mavs had the best record and Dirk won the MVP. That is always how the voters have gone.

Voters usually don't give the MVP award to players whose team is in the middle of the pack in the standings or near the bottom like the Lakers were before this season.

Don't get me started on the crap again. Since when did the voting go to..."making others better"? Since Steve Nash qualified as such? Puleeeezzz!!

What a joke. If you look at what Kobe did the last three years it was incredible. In fact the only reason Kobe is MVP this year is because of his dominance over the last three. There comes a time when folks have to say...okay...okay. He's done everything we've ask. Let's stop BS'ing and give the right man the trophy this time. Chris Paul.....give me a break!!! LeBron should get it over him. The only reason most are shouting Paul is because the media says so. smh...smh...smh.... How come Jason Kidd didn't get the MVP when he was doing the same thing Paul did? How does ones get a coach of the year and MVP from the same team? Who is responsible for the success?

C'mon ya'll You can't have it both ways. It's eitehr Paul or Byron Scott. Make up your minds. The Kobe Hate won't evenn allow folks to be objective. kekekekek

Kobe is so bad he won the award this year in spite of the Hate.

K Smith what are you talking about? Who said anything about "making others better?" Marshall is dead on with his assesment. Try to be objective for a change.

quote:

Originally posted by Decks:
K Smith what are you talking about? Who said anything about "making others better?" Marshall is dead on with his assesment. Try to be objective for a change.

Sure he did. Marshall and everybody else. Maybe not in this thread but, that has been the new buzz word or code word in basketball today..."The Facillitator"..."Making others better". Ya'll know I think that was just some BS put out there by the media to justify showering Steve Nash and the NBA's need to "whitten" things up after the Detroit fight.

I'm beyond objective. I'm dead on the money!!! Admit it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ksmith,

No he is not dead on. You can even look at the last 10 years! And I am not even a Kobe guy. Furthermore, writers have said there really is no set criteria for MVP balloting. Best player on best team, best player in league, etc. Different writers vote based on their own subjective criteria.

Even Larry Bird was shock on Dan Patrick when he realized Kobe had never gotten one before. He said he (Bird) needed to give one of his away if that was the case.

quote:

Originally posted by ksmith:

quote:

Originally posted by Decks:
K Smith what are you talking about? Who said anything about "making others better?" Marshall is dead on with his assesment. Try to be objective for a change.

Sure he did. Marshall and everybody else. Maybe not in this thread but, that has been the new buzz word or code word in basketball to day..."The Facillitator"..."Making others better". Ya'll know I think that was just some BS put out there by the media to justify showering Steve Nash and the NBA's need to "whitten" things up after the Detroit fight.

I'm beyond objective. I'm dead on the money!!! Admit it.

Agreed!

quote:

Originally posted by joeneek:
No he is not dead on. You can even look at the last 10 years! And I am not even a Kobe guy. Furthermore, writers have said there really is no set criteria for MVP balloting. Best player on best team, best player in league, etc. Different writers vote based on their own subjective criteria.

Even Larry Bird was shock on Dan Patrick when he realized Kobe had never gotten one before. He said he (Bird) needed to give one of his away if that was the case.

I took your suggestion and looked at the last ten years. The voters have been remarkably consistent. Every year the mvp award has gone to a player on the #1 or #2 team in the Eastern or Western Conference. Every single time! In 2000 when the Lakers had the best record in the West, Shaq won the MVP. In 2008 the Lakers have the best record in the west and Kobe wins.
Heck, you can even go back 30 years and only twice has someone outside of these parameters won the MVP. In 1988 Michael Jordan and in 1979 Moses Malone when he was with Houston. There is no Kobe bias.

Karl Malone and AI. That's two right there. You can be the #2 team in the East and be 7 or 8 overall.

There is no set criteria for voting- now you are suggesting there is. No one with a straight face can say the dude should never have won the award before.

quote:

Originally posted by joeneek:
Karl Malone and AI. That's two right there. You can be the #2 team in the East and be 7 or 8 overall.

There is no set criteria for voting- now you are suggesting there is. No one with a straight face can say the dude should never have won the award before.

What are you talking about?

*1997-Utah had the best record in the west (64-18) and second overall to Chicago (69-13).

*1999-Utah tied San Antonio for the best record in the league at 37-13.

*2001-Philly had the best record in the east(56-26) and tied the Lakers for the second best record in the NBA.


I'm not saying there's a set criteria but there clearly is a pattern and this year was no exception. Based on that pattern of voting this was the first year Kobe should have won. This is a subjective award but it appears most of the voters have similar opinions on who it should be awarded to. Based on the pattern of voting, it appears the MVP award usually goes to a player on the top two teams (by record) in the Eastern or Western Conference. Like I said there is no bias.

You said it's usually to the top #1 or #2 seeds and I said you could be 1 or 2 in the East and be 7 or 8 overall.

Where did I say there was Kobe bias? I said he should have received one before now. A statement most people have echoed all across boards, blogs and NBA shows. You ever hear someone like Wilbon or David Aldridge or Peter Vescy (on and on and on) say, "the team has to be #1 or #2 in their conference," I just don't think so.

I think you misunderstood my comments. Here's what I originally said.

quote:

I took your suggestion and looked at the last ten years. The voters have been remarkably consistent. Every year the mvp award has gone to a player on the #1 or #2 team in the Eastern or Western Conference.

quote:

Originally posted by Decks:
I think you misunderstood my comments. Here's what I originally said.

quote:

I took your suggestion and looked at the last ten years. The voters have been remarkably consistent. Every year the mvp award has gone to a player on the #1 or #2 team in the Eastern or Western Conference.

For those of you who think there is a Kobe bias...you might want to think again. I checked the list of every MVP winner and all of them played on teams that had one of the best records in the NBA.

I don’t think there has ever been a season where the MVP ever was on a team that was in the middle of the pack like the Lakers have been the last three seasons. Go check it out.

The way he played yesterday, I can see why!

Decks said:
Based on the pattern of voting, it appears the MVP award usually goes to a player on the top two teams (by record) in the Eastern or Western Conference.

Marshall said:
I checked the list of every MVP winner and all of them played on teams that had one of the best records in the NBA.


This is where the problem lies. Writers have said there is no such criteria as you both ascribe. Assuming arguendo that there is such criteria- being a top tier team- then why has Kobe not won MVP before since he has played and dominated on a top team?

They won the NBA title 3 times and I think in all but one of those yrs they were a high seed. Shaq got one, AI got one and Duncan got one. By your own logic, as a top 1 or 2 team, (and it's not like Kobe was just a side kick to Shaq on those title teams) Kobe should have won an MVP already.

It's like folks are seemingly saying the Lakers were never a high seed after Shaq left until this year so that's why it's only fitting for him to get it this year. So what, Kobe could have easily won the award in 99-00, 00-01, or 01-02 when the Lakers were doing damage.