Renewing talks in the Association...

Valley Village, CA

It's Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles, Cleveland too for that matter, and the topic of discussion is the MVP. Naturally being in LA I hear a lot of people pushing for Kobe Bryant. Across the country there is another man being touted as King of the NBA, LeBron James. Both superstars are scoring less than they did a year ago, and both are having arguably better seasons. LeBron James is tied with Dwayne Wade and sitting at the top of the league in scoring with 28.4 points per game. Kobe sits just slightly lower than his two US Olympic Gold medal winning teammates in third with 27.4 points per. Kobes and Bron are clearly the class of the league and have each of their teams sitting atop and nearly the top their respected conferences. Kobe's Lakers are 44-10 with the best record in the NBA while LeBron's Cavs are second in the East, behind Boston, with a 41-11 clip of their own.

In the race to Most Valuable Player, it takes more than just the individual efforts of the star player. It takes a team effort, as every MVP has come from a team winning more than 50 games in the season the player has won for (exception; Karl Malone, '98-99 lockout season, only 50 games played.). The real measure then seems to be which elite player can raise the level of play from the guys in his locker room. Both players have done well here. LeBron James has commanded more from the Cavs, and as a result the surge landed his teammate G Mo Williams a spot on the East All-Star team. Kobe went on the defensive and got his whole team to start focusing on D, the dividends were an All-Star appearance for F Pau Gasol and the best record through 54 games. The Lakers Bench Mob has really come along and is considered one of, if not the, best benches in the league. The Cavaliers arguably have better all around talent from the starters with the defensive specialist Wallace and shooters like Williams, Delonte West, and Wally Szczerbiak.

I guess with these two guys the vote might be too close to call. Early on it was LeBron who seemed to be running away with the award. Now it's Kobe Bryant who looks to be gaining ground quickly. In fact, Kobe might have just passed the King on the way to his second straight MVP, just as fast as he swept by LeBron for a sweet score in the first quarter of the All-Star Game last Sunday. Going back for further evidence it was Kobe that lead his team to a perfect 6-0 East coast road trip including streak ending wins over both Boston and Cleveland. LeBron played poorly in that matchup, Kobe was sick and still got the win. Bryant has also stepped up his game in the absence of big man Andrew Bynum(right knee surgery). When Bynum went down two games into that 6 game trip Kobe showed his team they could win in any situation. The very next game he dropped a record setting 61 points at Madison Square Gardens against the Knicks. Following that onslaught, the Black Mamba beat up the Celtics in a close physical game at Boston, then ended LeBron's unbeaten streak at home while fighting the flu.

LeBron James is an all out mad man on the court that clearly brings his team to new heights. Don't forget that in 2006 LeBron brought his Cavs to the NBA finals and his team lost to the Boston Celtics in seven games last season. The defense is way better for LeBron this year. He has taken to the task of guarding the opponents top player in the fourth quarter, something Kobe always does. His team is 0-6 when he doesn't play. King James also fills up the box score on a nightly basis with tons of assists and rebounds. His stats are pretty incredible. Just listen to what former NBA coach Mike Fratello has to say about Bryant being surpassed by James.

"You know the car that is always trailing the other car and eventually catches it and goes past? LeBron James just moved ahead," Fratello says. "This is a different version of LeBron James. The Olympic experience has made a different player out of LeBron James."

That's pretty high praise for the young fellow, he is just 24 years old. Maybe Kobe is not just 7 years old but wiser too though, at least that's what you might hear from Wizards head coach Ed Tapscott, who commented on Bryant after a 117-97 loss to Los Angeles in January.

"You know what's the most impressive about the Lakers? I watch Kobe who is clearly one of the dominant scorers in basketball today and maybe of all time, and I watched the way he made sure that every guy on the floor got shots. He shared the ball, he made sure Gasol got the ball in his spots, when Vujacic came in he made sure he got corner jump shots, he made sure Fisher curled and got his shots. I watched him when he could (have) taken shots at any time; made sure his teammates got quality shots so that they were into the game and that makes your big run harder, rebound more, defend better. That makes everybody on the team participate with greater zeal when you have that type of unselfishness..."

I couldn't imagine higher praise from an opposing coach. That just about summed up what Kobe means to the Lakers. Young kids playing the game with aspirations of greatness should read that quote a couple of times and remember it in their own game. It is Kobe's ability to be great and extract greatness from his team that makes him even better.

Kobe might also be the leagues best lock down defender as well. Being the leagues best defender might be the x-factor that propels him to defend his MVP title. You didn't really think I'd leave you with the vote might be too close to call, did you? I predict Kobe and the Lakers just might pick up a lot of hardware this summer. Lookout for Lamar Odom to pick up a Sixth man of the Year Award as well.