Kobe Bryant finally has the hardware to validate his status as the world's best basketball player.
When Shaquille O'Neal branded Bryant "the best player in the game" back in the 2001 playoffs, it has only been spoken but never printed that Kobe is the most valuable player in the league. Now, it's official. When the King, David Stern, handed Bryant the Maurice Podoloff trophy Wednesday night before the Lakers dismantled the Jazz in Game 2, the moment felt more like an overdue coronation. The MVP trophy finally landed in the capable hands of the best player in the game rather than the best team player.
Back in November and December, it was Kevin Garnett over Bryant in the MVP race. Then, in January-February, it was LeBron James over Kobe for MVP. In March, Chris Paul was the flavor of the month and pushed Kobe aside. Hmmmm. There is a common denominator here. Ahhh, yes. Kobe Bryant.
Sportswriters and broadcasters, not all of them but the majority of them, wavered on their MVP choice all season. These are the same sportswriters and broadcasters who voted Dirk Nowitzki MVP last year and made Steve Nash a two-time winner. Last time I checked, neither one has a championship ring on his finger. And last time I checked, both are sitting at home watching the playoffs.
Sometimes we as journalist want to overlook the obvious because we don't like to state the obvious. Back in the 1990s, we found excuses not to give Michael Jordan the MVP because he's either too good or he's won it before. Same kind of thinking with the MVP award the last few years. The "experts" felt that Nowitzki and Nash were better choices than Bryant because their teams were better even though Bryant would probably wipe both out in a game of 21.
This year, there were no more excuses. Bryant is and will be the Most Valuable Player of the league for years to come.
Keywords: Kobe Bryant, Lakers, MVP
