Mamba's Lone Strike

[Lkr]

April 13 -- Years from now, long after his quest for a all-time greatness is over, his legacy is cemented and his face plastered alongside the NBA's Mt. Rushmore with the other greats, someone will have to explain to the next generation how this happened.

 

Someone will have to explain how it came to be that Kobe Bean Bryant finished his storied career among the best of the best in almost every conceivable category of note, how he piled up championships, points, All-NBA honors, All-Star nods and Olympic gold medals and all of the other prizes the legends do, but has just one Most Valuable Player award.

 

Some poor soul will have to flip through the pages of history (or more appropriately, click through them) and explain why 2008 was the only year that the player who could very well go down as one of the two or three greatest players in league history, was duly recognized as the king of the (regular season) hill just once.

 

A hoops historian will have to try and explain why a man who spent a decade-plus as a first team All-NBA pick was the captain of that team just once. How did he finish his career with more MVP trophies from The Finals (2) and three times as many All-Star Game MVP trophies (4) on his mantle than he did MVP trophies?

 

Bryant will watch someone else walk away with the award once again this season, likely either LeBron James or Kevin Durant. They've led the way in the KIA Race to the MVP Ladder all season and will no doubt finish this season there on most people's officials ballots.

 

Bryant will most likely finish a strong third, the same spot he has held down all season on our list. But that doesn't mean we're comfortable toying with his legacy in this way. He is leading the league in scoring and is fourth in minutes played in this, his 16th season. Both are unbelievable feats when you consider the amount of mileage on his body (playoff minutes included).

 

For all of the things Bryant has been able to control on the floor, for all of the outcomes he's been able to manipulate with a crossover dribble, a late-game dagger, a simple flick of his wrist, this is one that he'll have to grin and bear as others mark the final score.

 

Lucky for him and his legacy, MVP trophies alone do not decide one's place among the best of the all-time best. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won a record six MVP trophies, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan five each, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Moses Malone three each, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone and Tim Duncan won two each. Suns point guard Steve Nash has two, one that could have (and some would argue should have) gone to Bryant. James already has two and could add a handful more before he's done. And Durant is looking for his first of what could be several as well.

 

Bryant, though, will have to suffer the same MVP travesty as his one-time running mate and nemesis Shaquille O'Neal. One-and-done MVPs.

 

Whether they were victims of circumstance or some other forces that prevented them from being feted properly is another discussion altogether. But the results remains the same, they are one and done.

 

And it seems as ridiculous now as it will for generations to come!

 

(Since we can't rank the entire Bulls team No. 1, we'll just go with our usual rankings from this point on!)

 

-- SEKOU SMITH

http://www.nba.com/mvp-ladder/2011-12/index.html

 

The guy can't do math...

[Real Deal]

Same with Shaq, just one MVP, yet considered the most dominant big man in the 90's and 2000's.

[Check my Stats]

Other than 06, has Kobe ever really been wronged by not winning the MVP?

[Lkr]

Other than 06, has Kobe ever really been wronged by not winning the MVP?

30/7/6 in 02-03

[kingfish]

Other than 06, has Kobe ever really been wronged by not winning the MVP?

07, 03, and 01.

[Finch23]

Please, Kobe was good in 02/03, but that year was a two man race between Duncan and Garnett. Both of those guys respectively carried worse teams to solid records (Spurs tied best record in NBA).

 

Kobe had Shaq who was still just as dominant. 27/11/3/2

 

Timmy had David Robinson in the last year of his career, a 2nd year Tony Parker and a rookie Manu Ginobili.

 

Kevin Garnett's supporting cast was even worse....

 

What about Mcgrady? He put up almost identical numbers to Kobe that year 32/6/5.

[Finch23]

2001? Are you kidding? Was Kobe even top ten that year? Webber, Duncan, AI, Robinson, Paul Pierce, Shaq, Kidd, VC, T-Mac.... Well maybe top ten.

 

I forgot who won that year..... Shaq? Still Kobe was no where near top 5 in MVP IMO.

[ballorama]

2001? Are you kidding? Was Kobe even top ten that year? Webber, Duncan, AI, Robinson, Paul Pierce, Shaq, Kidd, VC, T-Mac.... Well maybe top ten.

 

I forgot who won that year..... Shaq? Still Kobe was no where near top 5 in MVP IMO.

 

Kobe was definitely top ten that year, for crying out loud he averaged 28 ppg with Shaq on his team. AI deserved MVP that year no doubt however.

 

I don't think it was really KG and Duncan in 03, but more of Kidd and Duncan. I always thought Kidd should've won that year.. but Duncan was still a good choice.

 

As for Kobe, he should've been a three time MVP in 06, 07, and 08.

[Real Deal]

MVP award has always been a joke anyway. Most Valuable Player of the team, not the league? Okay.

 

Changing the definition, though, means that Jordan, Magic, and Kobe would have dominated the award since the early 1980's...so it's whatever.

[Finch23]

Kobe was definitely top ten that year, for crying out loud he averaged 28 ppg with Shaq on his team. AI deserved MVP that year no doubt however.

 

I don't think it was really KG and Duncan in 03, but more of Kidd and Duncan. I always thought Kidd should've won that year.. but Duncan was still a good choice.

 

As for Kobe, he should've been a three time MVP in 06, 07, and 08.

 

 

I know Kobe was top ten in 2001, I was just responding to the 2 guys that felt he was deserving of the MVP that year. He wasn't close IMO. Shaq was still the best player on the Lakers and all those other guys I mentioned were having MVP like years.

 

As for Kobe winning in 2006...... I don't agree with that either. It was either 05 or 06 that the NBA started basing the MVP trophy not on the "best player in the league", but the best player on the best team (or one of the best teams). The Lakers were very mediocre that year, and I know playoffs don't count towards MVP voting but that was the year Kobe gave up on his team against PHX.

[Finch23]

Finals MVPs> MVPs anyway. The only way a MVP trophy should count is if you also win the LOB as well. I forgot who the last player to do that was?....

 

 

I Do think it's wrong that Shaq only has 1 though.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Finch23

[Real Deal]

As for Kobe winning in 2006...... I don't agree with that either. It was either 05 or 06 that the NBA started basing the MVP trophy not on the "best player in the league", but the best player on the best team (or one of the best teams). The Lakers were very mediocre that year, and I know playoffs don't count towards MVP voting but that was the year Kobe gave up on his team against PHX.

Not this again. Kobe didn't give up on his team. There was only one other player shooting over 36% in that game, and it was Walton (Kobe was at 50%), and the lead was 25 after the third quarter. Team was 17-50 FG without Bryant.

 

"If we were going to get back in this type of game, we have to have everybody contributing," Bryant explained.

 

In Game 6, Kobe scored 50...and it didn't matter...had all but one of the 13 overtime points. People blasted him the next day, for being so selfish.

 

"I felt the Lakers were tight down the stretch. They don't have too many guys with experience in these types of situations. They wouldn't take the shots -- they kept passing to Kobe," said Thomas.

 

Nobody has ever been satisfied with what Kobe has done, in any game he has ever played. He dropped 81 on a team and was called selfish. That is disgusting.

[Finch23]

So why did Kobe only take 3 shots in the 2nd half of that game 7? Two of those shots were clean looks from 3. I understand that his team was trash, but you were only down 15 at half in a game 7 of the PO. At the start of the 3rd Kobe was 8-13, why was he passing the ball so much when all year long he wasn't afraid to jack up shots?

 

I was rooting for LA that series, (I hate PHX just as much as Dallas). I had just never seen a superstar player not look to shoot like Kobe did. You compete for 48 minutes regardless how outmatched you are, Kobe didn't.

[Real Deal]

So why did Kobe only take 3 shots in the 2nd half of that game 7? Two of those shots were clean looks from 3. I understand that his team was trash, but you were only down 15 at half in a game 7 of the PO. At the start of the 3rd Kobe was 8-13, why was he passing the ball so much when all year long he wasn't afraid to jack up shots?

 

I was rooting for LA that series, (I hate PHX just as much as Dallas). I had just never seen a superstar player not look to shoot like Kobe did. You compete for 48 minutes regardless how outmatched you are, Kobe didn't.

Because in the third, Phil wanted him to focus more on the defensive end, and to get the teammates more involved.

 

You do realize that Kobe had 17 second-quarter points, right? And the Lakers were still down by 15 at the half.

 

Had he retreated back to his scoring ways in the 4th, he would have been criticized anyway, and the Lakers would have lost, regardless.

 

In fact, Phoenix was double-teaming Bryant at 25-feet out in the second half. They were doing it every now and then in the first half, and Kobe hit at least 2-3 from downtown that were from WAY OUT because of it (one was a 30-footer).

 

Kobe was incredible, but he's not going to beat a team that can outscore him OR that chooses to run Marion and Bell at him all game long, together every now and then (or with Diaw) from that far away from the rim. Not since Shaq (during the dynasty) and Wilt did any player in NBA history see the kind of defensive pressure Kobe saw that season.