Kobe for MVP

Kobe Bryant has had to carry the Lakers on his back all season. He's played through injuries, criticism, rumors and speculation. The most common criteria looked at when evaluating a most valuable player is the kidnap scenario. In other words, if you took Kobe out, how would his team do. Of course the same argument can be made if you f you took Steve Nash away from the Phoenix Suns, LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dirk Nowitzki from the Dallas Mavericks, Hornets' Chris Paul, and many more. But if you were to take those stars out of the line up, their team would at least survive. In the case of each of them, their teams would have enough left over to make a run at a playoff berth, at the very least. Without Bryant, the Lakers would not be a playoff team. Not even close. My MVP vote for this year is Kobe - with Chris Paul a nose hair behind, and my favorite player in the league; LeBron James, just behind him.