Saturday 16 April 2011

Fan breakdown: Does Kobe Bryant deserve NBA MVP over Derrick Rose?

Posted by chardyboy on Saturday, April 16, 2011 0 comments


source:
By Todd Jacobs

The NBA Most Valuable Player award has all but been awarded to Derrick Rose(notes) of the Chicago Bulls. There are a few more worthy candidates aside from Rose but is there a Kobe Bryant(notes) and LeBron James(notes) backlash among sports writers and fans?

Those that are pushing Derrick Rose for this year's NBA MVP award are touting his numbers and the Chicago Bulls status at the top of the NBA standings. The problem with the MVP award is that it does not take into account the entire NBA season.

The NBA season is broken up into two distinct halves. There is the regular season and then there is the real season, the NBA Playoffs. Derrick Rose should have to prove himself in the NBA Playoffs before being considered for the NBA MVP. Can Rose lead the Bulls to the NBA Finals? If the Bulls do get to the NBA Finals, will Rose be able to maintain the same intensity through a potential Game 7 of the NBA Finals?

With the MVP award being a reward for the regular season, is Rose worthy? Yes, he does have the numbers but is he the leader on the Chicago Bulls? The sports media is a fickle bunch. They latch onto one player as the MVP and then they spend their time attempting to justify that player as the season moves forward.

Rose was anointed the NBA MVP before the NBA All Star break and no other player is getting any mention for the award. Kobe Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers on an incredible 17-1 run after the break and in the end helped his team secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. A feat many deemed impossible in January.

Bryant's numbers may be comparable to Rose, in fact they are better. Bryant is averaging 25.3 points per game to Rose at 25.0. Numbers are still not the determining factor. Bryant has been the leader on the court and on the bench this season for the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the wake of his outburst on Tuesday night, did Bryant essentially knocked himself out of the running for the NBA MVP? The MVP award should be based on team performance and player contribution and one outburst should not be the overriding factor in the voting. Bryant has done what has been required of him on the court to lock up the NBA MVP and has been the best overall player in the NBA as the regular season closed out.

Many of the writers voting for the NBA MVP this year will steer clear of Kobe Bryant based on what transpired in game 81 of an 82 game regular season. Bryant was punished with a $100,000 fine, he has made several heart felt apologies and being denied an NBA MVP for this season should not be a determining factor.

Todd Jacobs is a Southern California native and long time Los Angeles Lakers fan.

sources:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4387
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3118
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Kobe-Bryant-fined-by-the-NBA-for-shouting-a-homo?urn=nba-wp1277







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