Kobe Bryant’s MVP Odyssey
Photo. MannionThis afternoon the official announcement will be made: after 12 seasons in the League, Kobe Bryant will win his first MVP award.
This morning’s L.A. Times takes a look at Bryant’s long NBA journey to get to this point, covering the highs and lows, the good and the bad (except for Colorado - the author keeps it almost strictly basketball), and the sometimes strained relationship he has had with fans, teammates and management.
The piece gives a nice shout-out to the story that Kobe wrote for the cover of Dime #22 a few years back:
In the depths of the Lean Years from 2004 to 2007, Bryant discovered something new: fear.
Once serenely confident of achieving his goals, he felt abandoned and reviled — “an outcast my entire life,” he wrote for Dime Magazine — “[always] made to feel like there was something wrong with wanting to win so badly and wanting to become the best at what you do.”
Check it out HERE.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:23 am
E$ says:
I really thought #24 did the *itch move when he comes to the All-star game with some BIG azz brace on his pinky finger & the very next week doing 360 dunks in the game, not very MVP-like. I see no mention of the rape charge in Denver, my how the blind have forgotten.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Blue says:
it’s funny that the year he gets it is the year he least deserves it. a better arguement could’ve been made for him last year taking a less productive to the playoffs. but in a year when everyone around him stepped up dramatically (not because of kobe’s master motivation) and they dropped dead weight for another all-star, he shouldn’t have gotten it. i’ll admit (and i dislike kobe very much) that he is the best straight baller in the league, but MVP, i don’t think so. if voters had been able to wait a little longer to see CP3 carving up the champs, they would’ve voted for the real MVP of the league. just my opinion.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:37 am
daquest?on says:
i still think CP3 should have been the mvp..taking a mediocre team at best without him to in the verge of eliminating the spurs plus i know this doesnt count but HES KILLING THE COMPETITION IN THE PLAYOFFS
May 6th, 2008 at 11:52 am
evan says:
Can you put that article up for the website?
May 6th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
K Dizzle says:
I still think Kobe deserves the mvp.
the problem with writin an opinion is you tend to mix up facts from fiction and you tend to remember the last game you saw. Last game being Paul tearin up San An.
Unfortunately, that has nuthin to do with the 82 game regular season.
Kobe’s gettin the MVP cuz
1) The Lakers beat the Hornets to claim the top seed in the west….decisively, then crushed the Kings to make sure, the Hornets lost to those same Kings, with no Miller, Martin AND Artest so that throws out the best team theory
2) The Hornets went from the 9th team in the west to the 2nd team in the west, exact same team. Difference was injuries last season when the Hornets had the most games lost to injuries. The Lakers went from 7th in the West to 1st in the West.
3) Kobe dealt with major injuries to himself and 3 other key pieces BEFORE Gasol ever even got to LA. I read a lotta posts with dudes sayin Kobe got Bynum and Gasol so he don’t deserve the MVP. Kobe’s never had Pau and AB, they’ve never played together. Lakers were in 1st place when AB went down and Pau got there after the all-star break, so please squash that.
4)@ post # 1 - “I really thought #24 did the *itch move when he comes to the All-star game with some BIG azz brace on his pinky finger & the very next week doing 360 dunks in the game, not very MVP-like”
What does that even mean, dude? Kobe gets hurt, his doctors recommend surgery, he decides that his team needs him, especially with the west being so cutthroat that Houston wins 22 straight and can’t crack the top 3 and now he’s not a mvp cuz he can play through the pain. Kobe haters are funny. You praise AI for his toughness, but diss Kobe for the same thing. lol
5) CP3 was not in the MVP race til right before the all-star break when New orleans caught fire. Look it up. It was Kobe, Lebron and Garnett. The award is for the full season, not the best 2/3s of the season.
Anyway, ish won’t matter in a few.
peace
May 6th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
GEE...Engine Engine number 9, on the New York transit line says:
No question it’s Kobe.
Of course it’s Kobe and I am from this standpoint.
Look at the dramatic impact dude had on the USA squad. What was all the talk? It was how Kobe was shutting pimps DOWN!
Sure he had he his Summer Jam “I am going to call everyone out” deal. Every player has flaws, I don’t know how many post in Smack today were pointing out how CP3 has dirty ways when he plays.
Sure CP3 came on the scene like no other this year, but Kobe always has been on the scene with a bullseye on his back and still holds his ground and more.
He is the MVP of the the team, the conference and the L.
It’s ashame this is his first one, but then again it’s probably and hopefully his first one of many.
May 6th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Sam I Am says:
K Dizzle get off his nuts WOW! ok he got it..lol he still not gonna win it…Celts got his number down
lol sike the Lakers will win it all…but relax Kobe’s # 1 fan
May 6th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Blue says:
facts…
Sasha
06-07 4.3PPG
07-08 8.8PPG
Farmar
06-07 4.4PPG 1.9APG
07-08 9.1PPG 2.7APG
Bynum
06-07 7.8PPG 5.9RPG
07-08 13.1PPG 10.2RPG
that’s just three players. not to mention adding a solid PG in D-Fish. and adding Pau’s 18.8PPG halfway through the season. and lamar has been pretty solid all year. Kobe’s PPG are down and his APG are exactly the same. i’m just sayin’ that i don’t THINK he should’ve been MVP this year, but i would’ve given it to him last year. dang, some people get all defensive about Kobe.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Kobeef says:
@ daquestion
“i still think CP3 should have been the mvp..taking a mediocre team at best without him to in the verge of eliminating the spurs”
Really? This is probably the number one comment from people who back CP3 for MVP but it is complete BS. Let’s look at it head to head
Gasol vs. Chandler = Pau gives more offense, Chandler more D and rebounds. Advantage Lakers
David West vs Odom = Odom has a nice rounded skill set but West is an All Star and better scorer. Advantage Hornets
Peja vs. Luke Walton = Peja is an all star and possibly the best pure shooter in the NBA. Advantage Hornets
CP3 vs Derrick Fisher = no need to discuss how much better Paul is than Fish. Advantage Hornets.
Kove vs Mo Pete = again, clearly Kobe. Advantage Lakers.
If anything it is a wash but there is no-way you can say CP3 deserves all the credit for his team’s wins. He has top 10 players at each position except SG.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Scott says:
Alot of people forget that he’s putting up crazy numbers still, and its been since the all-star break that surgery was recommended for his finger, nothings changed, that finger still needs surgery, I realize its not a huge issue, but still.
I find it interesting that people point out that his teammates had better seasons this year than last and then say that Kobe doesn’t deserve it. Maybe just maybe, his unselfish ways and being a REAL part of the time more so this year than any years past is what has caused these guys to have career years.
Its almost like that Nash commercial where they highlight the players around Nash who had career years and they basically put it out there that it was all because of Nash.
Kobe may not do it to that extreme, but if you watched the 1st game of the Jazz series, you saw how confident he is in his teammates these days compared to those of yester-year.
Sure this hasn’t been his best season statistically, but when he did have crazy stats no one cared and said he was a ball hog, lol, yall gotta make up your mind, how does the best player in the league earn the MVP trophy.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Blue says:
@scott
so, the mvp should be the guy who’s team gets better because he does less?
May 6th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
Kobe is the best player in the League, go ask LeBron. Lol.
Who cares if Kobe or CP3 won MVP? They both had great years and it wouldn’t be a great injustice to either guy had they not won.
So why all the bitching? In sports, someone has to win and someone HAS to lose.
May 6th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
DaPro says:
I was never a big fan of Kobe because I always thought he was too self-centered but I’m really starting to appreciate his role on the team.
Remember the knock on Kobe was could he make his teammates better? Well this season proved it. Individually he’s the best to do it but he came out and showed the world he can dominate and lead in more ways than scoring 81 points. He got my vote!
May 6th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Three Stacks says:
Post # 1, it’s one thing to argue statistics and player impact, but being charged with a sexual assault case in which all the charges were dropped has no bearing in this argument. If you don’t like him, say you don’t like him, but don’t use irrelevant facts to try and prove your point.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
GEE...Engine Engine number 9, on the New York transit line says:
Thinking though, how polished would Kobe’s career be if he never complained and never got into that stint in Colorado?
He would be the “Golden Child” of the NBA.
I am not saying I am glad he did those things, but I am glad that it put people into reality, that amazing as he is….he is still human. As humans we make mistakes. I am just glad dude rebounded from them tremendously.
May 6th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
dank says:
wow, whoever had the 1st post is an ignorant pussy. you moron, dime stated that the LA times kept it strictly basketball. how STUPID do you feel?
kobe is the best. its a fuckin shame that A) its taken 3 years for the league to give him whatis rightfully his and shoulda been his second MVP and B) today, every single shithead sports writer in America woke up with “hmm, since Kobe is the MVP, lets see how many irrelevant points we can bring up and take that away from him”
stupid. QUIT FUCKING HATING, go hate on the Nash and Nowitski, you know, the MVPs who didnt do jackshit for their teams once their teams needed it.
fuckin stupid
May 7th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
doc says:
I think CP3 should’ve won but I aint mad kobe won either.Im more mad he got his wife earing on.