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It took 12 seasons for Kobe Bryant to get his Most
Valuable Player trophy. Bryant beat young point guard Chris Paul,
veteran Kevin Garnett and LeBron James to win the most coveted
individual award in the game of basketball. This is the one accolade
that has eluded the All-Star since he entered the league as a
scrawny but prodigious player straight out from high school.
With his first Maurice Podoloff
trophy, Bryant joins other Lakers greats who have won the MVP award.
This prestigious list includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson
and his estranged former teammate Shaquille O’Neal. Bryant
finished the regular season ranked second in scoring with 28.3
points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. He played all 82
games despite a hand injury that needs to undergo surgery. Beyond
the numbers, however, what put Bryant over the top is his evolution
as a player specifically this season.
Over the past several seasons,
Bryant has been considered one of the best players to play the game.
The perennial knock on Bryant was his inability to lead his team to
victory, his “me-first” attitude, and his ball-hogging. It
didn’t help that he was behind Shaq’s departure from the Lakers,
the sexual assault charge and before the start of the season—he
was vocal about being traded since he felt that the Lakers were not
building a good team around him.
Of course, Kobe’s record was
also tainted with a string of bad years after Shaq’s departure at
the end of the 2004 season. The following year, the Lakers failed to
make it to the playoffs and had early exits over the next two
seasons.
The 2007 to 2008 season has been
the year of redemption for Kobe. He was able to lead his team to the
best record in the tough Western Conference and a 15-game win
improvement over last year. The Lakers started with a dismal 9-8
record before Bryant’s sheer determination and emerging leadership
put the team back on track. His confidence in his young and old
teammates alike resulted in better teamwork and camaraderie. The
emergence of young center Andrew Bynum and the acquisition of Pau
Gasol made Bryant believe that he could finally bring this team all
the way to an NBA championship.
The Lakers now have a 2-0 lead
versus the Utah Jazz and by the looks of it, they will be in the
Western Conference Finals and are poised to go the NBA Finals. They
will probably meet either Detroit or Boston for basketball’s
highest honor.
Bryant now has a chance to win
his 4th championship ring and establish himself in the same league
as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. His MVP trophy will definitely
have more meaning if he holds up a championship trophy as well. Now
that would be a perfect Hollywood story.
Please e-mail your comments and
suggestions to raffyrledesma@yahoo.com
SIDELINES. Bryant is the
youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 career points and the
16th player in league history to tally 21,000 points and 4,000
assists.
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