Kobe Bryant Named as NBA MVP for the First Time

Finally, after 12 years of waiting, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers has been named as the NBA’s MVP!

For all of his on-court prowess and despite being dubbed as the best basketball player in the planet not named Lebron, Kobe has not been named as the NBA MVP. There were even debates as to whether he was the greatest player to never win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy (named after the first NBA commissioner). Although he is still young and might play for 5 - 8 more years, he certainly belonged in the MVP snub discussion alongside Hall of Famers and all-time greats, George Mikan, Jerry West and John Havlicek.

It’s now time to strike Kobe off the list. It’s a long time coming for him. He even gained the distinction of being the player who played the longest before winning the award (he was named MVP following his 12th season, in contrast, former teammate Shaquille O’Neal was named MVP in his 8th season). He was also the second shooting guard in NBA history to win the award. Guess who came first? Yes, it was Michael Jordan.

In the weeks before the announcement of the MVP award, there were widespread discussions among basketball aficionados that this will be the closest MVP race ever. Contenders like Chris Paul, Lebron James and Kevin Garnett are all legitimate ones to give Kobe a run for his money! But when it was announced last May 6, the voting was not even close as he got 82 of the 126 available first-place votes from a panel of 126 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Chris Paul is a far second with 28, followed by Garnett with 15 while Lebron only got 1 first-place vote.

Below is the complete tally:
 

Although critics were quick to dismiss it as some sort of a Lifetime Achievement Award for him, for all of his accomplishments in his career, I can say that this is definitely a well-deserved achievement for the ‘Black Mamba’.  All throughout his career, he has been criticized as a ball-hog; one who is never willing to share the limelight with his teammates. This was one of the reasons why he had constant feuds with former teammate Shaq which ultimately led to Shaq signing with the Miami Heat. But this year, after an off-season where he expressed that he wants out of Los Angeles, he learned to mesh with his teammates. He learned to treat them as family, as someone he can trust to help him catapult the LA Lakers to the top of the very tough Western Conference. He toned down his game a little bit to allow his team bask in the glory. He is also playing hurt with a hand injury that still requires surgery amidst the double-teams always thrown at him every game night but which seem not to bother him. That really is a definition of a winner.

Kobe said before becoming the MVP:

I think for me to win an MVP [this season] would be special because that’s always been the criticism of my game, is that I don’t make other guys better, to win that or be in the hunt for that is special because it means people are recognizing that I am making my teammates better.

After becoming the MVP:

I’m deeply honored to be here. This is a team award. This is not an individual award. The special thing about this award is that we did it together. I couldn’t have done it without them.

The NBA championship trophy along with the NBA Finals trophy will go along nicely with NBA MVP trophy for Kobe Bryant this season. I hope they’ll win it all.

Just to see if he can do it without someone named Shaq helping him, hehehe…

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