The NBA is not the Academy, the MVP award is not the Lifetime Achievement award, and Kobe does not deserve to win.
After Kobe Bryant was presented the NBA’s highest honor I was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of disgust, an empty void in the pit of my stomach.

Yes, Kobe Bryant is the most talented player in the league.  Yes, the Lakers’ sudden surge in the second half of the season was remarkable.  But to deny Chris Paul the MVP award for this past season is a travesty.

The Hornets with Chris Paul are a youthful and exciting team; without him they are just paving their way to a lottery pick.  The same can be said for the Lakers without Kobe, but the key factor is Los Angeles’ trade for Pau Gasol.  Gasol contributed a great amount to the pull for the playoffs; without him they were teetering on the edge between significance and rebuilding.  After the injury to Andrew Bynum the only way the Lakers could have made the playoffs was via trade seeing as Kobe has already shown he can’t carry the team by himself.

For those who say Kobe deserves the award because they point out the fact that Chris Paul is only in his third year and has plenty of time left to win the MVP, I wish to say, that reasoning holds no merit.  Also, the fact that Kobe has had great seasons in the past but has not had a successful team means nothing; the MVP award is given to the most valuable player of this season.  That player was Chris Paul.

Paul turned on his scoring when needed (he averaged 21.1 points per game, scoring 30 or more in 12 games, eight of which were wins), dished out the ball much more than expected (a league-leading 11.6 assists per game including 19 games in which he had 15 or more assists), and led the league with 2.7 steals per game.

Not only does Paul make himself look good, but he constantly makes everyone around him better.  Think of it this way: if you replaced Chris Paul with any mediocre point guard in the league there is no way David West or any of the other Hornets would have had as good of a season.

I will admit, however, (and this is coming from a life long Kobe hater) that if this had been any other year where Chris Paul didn’t have as spectacular a year as he did, there is no doubt Kobe would have deservedly won the MVP award.  He looked more determined than ever and even became a better teammate (though once you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up).

John Moore, diversions editor