Originally posted by shortcircuit
OK Mr. Wizard...
Hmm, where do I start? Well first off, no, Kobe isn't a ball hog and he never really has. Kobe actually played point most of the time during the Championship Years when Shaq was still around, and this year he has limited his own shot attempts in order to get his teammates more involved. As a result, the Lakers are one of the best offensive teams this year. Kobe was the first Laker to try and get Bynum more involved in the offense this year. Just look at Andrew's progression during the early part of the season, his numbers increase monthly as the rest of the team bought onto what Kobe was doing and started emulating his alley opp plays. Oh, and Phil loves Kobe because he does exactly what he asks him to do. Earlier this year, was Phil mad at Kobe for shooting 40 something times in the OT victory over Seattle, or was he mad at the other Lakers for not stepping up and helping Kobe? Why don't you go over all of Phil's interviews this year and then tell me if you still think that Phil dislikes Kobe. And about Pau, yes it was a steal to acquire him but the Lakers still lack depth at the center position and this weakness was exposed when Pau went down with that ankle injury last month. Thats why it is crucial that Bynum comes back in time for the playoffs.
About LeBron, I love the guy and I really wish he would have won a ring last year. No, I don't think he is a ballhog, but I do think he is immature and has tried to pad his stats various times throughout the season. Thats why his numbers don't necessarily make him a candidate for the MVP in my book. Historically, all MVP's since Moses Malone have been on teams of 50+ wins, and LeBron's Cavs aren't going to attain that this year therefore he shouldn't get the MVP.
As far as the question of whether or not the Rockets would make the playoffs if T-Mac was injured? I think that can be said about a lot of teams in the West. I mean look at Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Antonio, each team has been in jeopardy of missing the playoffs because of key injuries (Dirk, Bynum, Kobe, Pau, Duncan, Parker). So I really don't think that is a strong argument because it can be applied to so many teams and players. I think a better argument would be that a player made his team plagued with injuries a championship contender. This can be applied to T-Mac, I guess..., since his co-star Yao went down with injury, but really, like I said before, Houston's win streak was primarily due to Coach Adelman and the role players. This has actually been one of T-Mac's down seasons statistically, so no, I don't think he deserves the MVP at all. Kobe, on the other hand, has been playing through many injuries throughout the entire year and hasn't missed a single game, plus, the Lakers as a whole has been plagued with injuries all year (everyone except for Jordan Farmar, Ronny, and Mbenga...and I guess Newble too...) and they are still a championship contender. Not to mention Kobe has been having a season similar to the past few "Shaq-less" years while limiting his shot attempts. I mean the basic difference between this year and the previous years is that Kobe actually has a significant amount of wins this year. So that is my reasoning of why Kobe > T-Mac this year.
As far as who is a lock for this year's MVP, believe or not I don't think its Kobe yet. CP3 also has a legitimate chance at winning the award. Both players are very similar in that they basically do it all for their teams on both ends of the court. And they are both putting up some pretty sick numbers. So for me, it all depends on how the season finishes. Right now, I have CP3 slightly ahead of Kobe in the race, but that is only because he has the number 1 seed in the Western Conference. But you never know what can happen and since I am a Laker fan I want Kobe to win the award.
About LeBron being the best player in the game, no, not yet. Its still Kobe, case closed.