MVP Delivery

After much debate to if and when, Kobe Bryant finally clenched on to his first Most Valuable Player award after 12 seasons in the league.

By Manouk Akopyan

As Kobe received his MVP award Wednesday night in front of an electric playoff crowd at Staples Center, it was a rare piece of nostalgia and a glimpse of history that has only hit three other Los Angeles Lakers players in previous decades. 

Commissioner David Stern presented Bryant the ever-elusive hardware that Lakers fans, basketball experts and basketball aficionados alike have been calling for in recent years. 

En route to a 2-0 series lead over the Utah Jazz, an overall 6-0 record in the playoffs and a10 game winning streak dating to seasons end, Kobe Bryant and his catalysts of Lakers teammates dominated once again in what was heralded in months past as the “ferocious and wild west.” 

But, as wild the west has been, Kobe’s ride to where he has come full circle over the last year has been much wilder. After the news broke Friday that he had finally added the one piece of hardware missing from his mantle in the trophy room, Los Angeles took a sigh of relief for its much beloved superstar, who at times has been a tumor, albeit benign. 

Having gone through the growing his pains since the age of 17, fans, management, and Bryant put away differences and settled in on the main goal at hand: Marching down Figueroa come June. In doing so, Bryant took over a revitalized Lakers team and put forth one of his best, if not the best, seasons he’s had to date. 

Because, for every year that Kobe should’ve have won the honors in previous seasons, the campaigns of Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett overlooked what Bryant had accomplished. 

Fortunately, for the savior and sake of the awards credibility and actual worth, the 2007-2008 was indeed awarded to the star of all stars. Chris Paul, who many believed, including myself, would win the award, finished second. He was 54 first-place votes behind Bryant, in a race that was initially hyped closer to what it turned out to be. 

Bryant distanced himself from Paul after overtaking Western Conference supremacy in the season’s final weekend of basketball with convincing victories over New Orleans and San Antonio. 

Fearing that Bryant’s performances throughout the past year under the many conditions we have been aware of were not enough, the Lakers team actually put together a MVP “propaganda mailer” to all eligible voters, making it a point of proof, evidence and effort to get 24 his much needed dab. 

It looks like that message hit home, as Bryant joins a select group of Lakers icons in Kareem, Magic and Shaq as the franchises lone MVP award honorees. So, the next time you are chanting M-V-P, M-V-P  from your living room floor, local bar or as part of the 19,000 at Staples Center, remember this rare historic feat as it has only graced three others over the last 60 for one of basketballs most prestigious franchises.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment

---