Paul, Not Bryant Deserves MVP

NBA

By: Joe Colombo

Posted: 4/24/08

The NBA's Most Valuable Player award will be announced next month, and it's going to be a sad day for fans of Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. That or Kobe Bryant haters.

Bryant is without a doubt one of the best players of this decade, and that's something even his retractors have to admit. If you think about it, that's probably why people despise him so much; he repeatedly comes up in the clutch and is constantly a shut-down defender.

The MVP is going to go to Bryant, and he's surely a top-tier candidate. But Paul is more deserving, and he's going to walk away empty-handed simply because of history and league politics.

He will receive the honor this year because of his career achievements. I'll say it again: He deserves the award - there's no doubt in my mind. But if the NBA doesn't award Bryant an MVP award at some point of his NBA tenure, the trophy might as well be destroyed via dragging behind a four-door sedan, George Costanza style. This is Bryant's year.

After looking at Bryant's numbers, it's impossible to argue that he isn't one of the greatest not just of this decade, but of all-time. In his career, he's averaging 25 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and only 2.9 turnovers. He's shot 84 percent from the free-throw line and 45 percent from the floor. The numbers go beyond his career playing statistics. He's a 10-time all-star, a seven-time all-defensive selection and a two-time scoring champion. The most important number of all: he has three rings.

It's really too bad for Paul. Even though he is a lock for multiple MVP awards in his career (he's only 22 years old), this should have been his year. Unfortunately, Dallas Mavericks' star Dirk Nowitzki won the MVP award last season; Bryant should have been the recipient then, hands down.

Although Nowitzki led the Mavericks to 67 wins last season - and a first-round loss to the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors - Bryant did much more with less around him. Just getting to the playoffs last year was a huge accomplishment for the Lakers. Bryant averaged 31.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists with a virtually invisible Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom for 56 games and without Pau Gasol. How he only took slightly less than 23 shots per contest last season is still beyond me. Every great player (I'm talking about Bryant "great," not Nowitzki "great") deserves an MVP, and no one was more worthy than Bryant last season.

This is why you can make the same case for Paul right now, or even LeBron James. Without James, the Cleveland Cavaliers are maybe a 25-win team. With him, they won 45 games and are the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. James averaged 30 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.2 assists - nearly Oscar Robertson-like numbers.

Paul led the New Orleans Hornets to a No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and 56 wins. They were considered a lottery-bound team before the season began. His averages of 21.1 points, 11.6 assists and 4 rebounds were the best of any point guard in the league.

One thing that's important to examine when trying to select an MVP winner is how that candidate's team's offense flows. Obviously, the Lakers focus their offense around Bryant. But who has the ball when he doesn't? Is it Jordan Farmar or Derek Fisher bringing the ball up the floor? Bryant isn't starting the offensive set all the time. Does Bryant create baskets though for other players? This is where he differs from James and Paul. Bryant isn't a point guard, yet Paul and James are known to bring the ball up the floor at times, if not always.

When you watch Paul or James play, we see that they are scoring or creating much more than Bryant. And this is something so valuable to their offensive schemes. If you replaced Bryant with an average shooting guard, the Lakers are still going to score points, especially with Gasol on the floor. But if you replace Paul or James with just an average point guard (or in James' case, an average point guard, shooting guard, or small forward), it's a guarantee their offenses wouldn't be as productive. This is a huge factor to consider, and through that we can see that both Paul and James are more valuable to their teams than Bryant is to the Lakers.

This season, the NBA is going to look at what Bryant has done in his career. And when they see that Bryant doesn't have that MVP trophy in his case, they are going to make sure one will be there before he puts his career on the shelf. That is why Bryant will be able to add the trophy to his case come next month.

Paul is going to have to wait his turn. He isn't quite Bryant "great" yet, but he's going to be as great as Frosted Flakes. You can bet the house on that.

Joe Colombo's NBA

column runs every Thursday.

He can be contacted at

Jospeh.Colombo@UConn.edu.