Who's Your MVP?

[mkwest]

In your opinion who deserves to get the MVP award?

I'm really rooting for Chris Paul to win this one. He helped lead a team with a lot of "potential" to #2 in the gridlocked western conference. All the Hornets really needed was to stay healthy to be competitive, but they've exceeded general expectations and finished with a top 5 record in the league.

Chris Paul is the driving force behind their success. IMO he took ownership of the title "Best Point Guard in the NBA" this year. He's kicked his game up and is now amongst the elite superstars. His numbers are absolutely insane. 21.1 points, 11.6 assists, 2.7 steals is historic. 20/10/2 has only been accomplished a small handful of times in NBA history. On top of that he's pretty much improved in every category with the exception of rebounding. A lot of people look at MVP as best player on the best team; I tend to look at it as how would this team play if you removed this player completely. How big of a hole is left? In other words...who's the most valuable to their team and their teammate? Do I think he'll win it? Actually, I think he'll finish second, but I'm still holding onto the hope that he'll come out on top.

[ClipperDomination]

I've been sitcking to it, CP3 should be the NBA MVP. He's done more with less talent than anyone else this season.

The Lakers were a six seed before they got Gasol, and once they get Gasol, the Kobe for MVP uproar starts.

Chris Paul is single handily making his teammates (David West, Tyson Chandler, Peja, even Pargo) better with his court vision and awareness. He leads the league in steals, so he does play defense too.

CP3 for MVP!

[loflin3hree5ive]

I don't like the guy, but it would be a travesty if Kobe isn't MVP.

[JJ LoDuca]

I'm with the majority on this one. I'm all about CP3 for MVP! Dude has turned what is otherwise a mediocre team into a top-tier team in the West. He has taken over games when the situation called for hit and willed his team to a bundle of wins. He makes everyone on the floor better, and like MK said, ran away with the title of best PG in the league this year.

As for Kobe, his team was "just ok" before the Gasol trade. The lakers success this year is because of the role players development: Walton, Vujacic, Lamar, all them have stepped up their games and that's what has got them over the hump. The Hornets ascent to the top has been strictly because of what Chris Paul has done. Kobe's been playing this way on mediocre to bad lakers teams for his entire career...the only time Kob wins is when he has a big man to pick up the rest of the slack. CP done it himself: MVP status.

[PlinkingPanda]

The Lakers were a six seed before they got Gasol, and once they get Gasol, the Kobe for MVP uproar starts.

That's a good point. I'd like to see Paul or KG win it, but I have a feeling this may be Kobe's year. Let's just hope that would be the only thing he has a good chance of winning. I don't think I could take another year of Laker band wagoners(at least half of the fans) showing their pride with those stupid car flags again...

[remixer2017]

I understand why you guys think paul should get it, but the hornets in my opinion is a deeper team. and kobe kept his team in it all season long with many many injuries. KOBE deserves to win it. He is the best player in the world and the MVP in this league. I can't believe you guys, what else does kobe need to do to win it. Kobe is the best player in the world in my opinion and how he doesnt have an MVP is mind boggling to me. Paul is amazing, but he still has d. west, t. chandler, p. stoyakovic ( i know i spelled his name wrong), mo pete, and bonzi, plus they got alot of solid bench players too and paul has had his whole team throughout the season. Kobe has odom, pau (didnt play for the lakers the 1st half of the season), bynum (who didnt play 2nd half of season), who else do they have? they got alot of bench players but thats it. Someone said Walton and vuyacic have done better this season. true, but the hornets have pargo and wells who are way better players than walton and vuyacic. KOBE IS THE MVP hands down.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

To be honest I feel that the Lakers are the better team and have better tallent. If Kobe was really an MVP candidate he would have the Lakers at the top of the west each season since Shaq has left.

Chris Paul is what makes the Hornets go. He helped David West become an all star, and he also elevated Tyson Chandlers game. Chris Paul has made a lot of his team mates better. I'm not so sure that Kobe has done that.

The Lakers do have players that are improved but I feel this is because of the presence of Pau Gasol and the coaching of Phil Jackson.

So my MVP candidate is Chris Paul

[PlinkingPanda]

Paul is amazing, but he still has d. west, t. chandler, p. stoyakovic ( i know i spelled his name wrong), mo pete, and bonzi, plus they got alot of solid bench players too and paul has had his whole team throughout the season. Kobe has odom, pau (didnt play for the lakers the 1st half of the season), bynum (who didnt play 2nd half of season), who else do they have? they got alot of bench players but thats it. Someone said Walton and vuyacic have done better this season. true, but the hornets have pargo and wells who are way better players than walton and vuyacic. KOBE IS THE MVP hands down.

You missed Turiaf, Farmer, and how did you leave Fisher out...

Hornets:
Paul, West, Chandler, Peja, Peterson, Wells, Pargo

Lakers:
Bryant, Odom, Gasol, Bynum, Sasha, Walton, Turiaf, Farmar, Fisher

Hornets - 7

Lakers - 9

Who has more talent again?

[J~Rush]

-= original quote snipped =-



You missed Turiaf, Farmer, and how did you leave Fisher out...

Hornets:
Paul, West, Chandler, Peja, Peterson, Wells, Pargo

Lakers:
Bryant, Odom, Gasol, Bynum, Sasha, Walton, Turiaf, Farmar, Fisher

Hornets - 7

Lakers - 9

Who has more talent again?

West, Chandler, Peja > Gasol, Odom, Sasha, Walton, Turiaf, Farmar, Fisher

[ClipperDomination]

But the point is West, Chandler, and Peja wouldn't be as good as they are in the Hornet's system if it wasn't for Paul. Can't really say the same thing about Kobe.

[remixer2017]

Hornets:
Paul, West, Chandler, Peja, Peterson, Wells, Pargo

Lakers:
Bryant, Odom, Gasol, Bynum, Sasha, Walton, Turiaf, Farmar, Fisher

For one thing chandler and peja proved they could be good without paul. Gasol is an allstar but so is david west. chandler and peja are better than odom and fisher. bynum hasnt even played most of the season so you cant count him. bryant has made sasha, walton, turiaf, and farmar better while paul has made west better. as i said chandler, peja, peterson, wells, and even pargo were as good in the past as they are right now. and you cant say they were not. look at the stats. so paul has not made them good. they already were. bryant has made players good that wouldnt even be in the league if it wasnt for him. sasha, walton, turiaf would of all been cut after there first couple seasons. so kobe has made his whole bench better because he has played with them for a bunch of seasons now. paul is an amazing player but KOBE is the MVP. u all are just bitter because he is a LA LAKER. prove me wrong.

[J~Rush]

But the point is West, Chandler, and Peja wouldn't be as good as they are in the Hornet's system if it wasn't for Paul. Can't really say the same thing about Kobe.

Why not? Do you think Gasol would have scored 36 points if his man didn't keep going to help out on Kobe? Do you think Odom would get so many rebounds if the person boxing him out is out of position from shadowing Kobe to the other side of the floor? The only player that can consistently get their own offense is Pau, and he averaged 18 points on 50% shooting before being traded. Now he's averaging the same amount of points on 60% shooting. Pau didn't discover how to shoot a skyhook, it's the open looks Kobe creates for him.

[PlinkingPanda]

chandler and peja are better than odom and fisher.

You can't compare players that don't play the same position. They fill different roles. If you wanted to compared chandler/peja with Odom.

Chandler is better at defense, peja is better at the 3. Odom is better overall.

bynum hasnt even played most of the season so you cant count him.

I'll give ya that.

bryant has made sasha, walton, turiaf, and farmar better while paul has made west better.

Sasha has always been a good shooter. You always hear about him making his shots in practice, but never being able to bring it to a game.

Walton's game has dropped this year compared to last. Can't really say that Kobe helped improve his game. He got his money, and now he's taken a step back in improving.

Turiaf is a high energy hustler. Kobe doesn't make him better. He would be playing with this kind of energy anywhere he plays. Coaches love players like these. They would give them playing time, and let them improve with the minutes they get. Would you say someone like Stephon Marbury is the reason David Lee plays so well?

No comment on farmar.

as i said chandler, peja, peterson, wells, and even pargo were as good in the past as they are right now. and you cant say they were not. look at the stats. so paul has not made them good. they already were.

Chandler has improved since he came to the Hornets. You're telling me a 6% increase in field goal percentage, +3 in reb isn't an improvement compared to when he was in Chicago?

You're right about Peja, and Mo Pete.

41%/42% FG in 1 1/2 years with houston, 49% in NO after the trade for Bonzi. He hasn't shot this well since he was in sac 3 years ago when he shot 46% from the field.

Pargo is really average at best. I'm not sure why you mentioned him to begin with.

bryant has made players good that wouldnt even be in the league if it wasnt for him. sasha, walton, turiaf would of all been cut after there first couple seasons. so kobe has made his whole bench better because he has played with them for a bunch of seasons now.

Yes they would be. They have talent. You're the one who's acting like Kobe is god and his presence is the only thing that gave these players hope.

u all are just bitter because he is a LA LAKER. prove me wrong.

Already proved you wrong in my first post when I said this is most likely Kobe's year.

[loflin3hree5ive]

I'm sure Lakers fans have had plenty of opportunities on their own board to discuss the MVP race. There is no need to interrupt a discussion amongst Clippers fans about who the MVP should be. Including yourselves in our conversation here isn't going to increase the chance Kobe is MVP, all it does is make individual fans stick out like a soar thumb among a classy organization and fan base that is the L.A. Lakers.

The MVP is hypocritical. Nash won two MVP awards under the same circumstances that Paul is under this year, taking a lottery team to the top of the western conference standings. Paul is probably the most "valuable" player a team can have in the sense of the word.

However, I expect the criteria to change this year, as wrong as that is. I believe this year it will be a partial "lifetime achievement" award. If this is the case, and I think it will be, I suspect Kobe wins the MVP in a landslide. I think this is rightfully so.

It would be pathetic if Kobe never wins an MVP award. You know that, I know that, David Stern knows that and the sports writers who vote for this junk know that. If Kobe had won an MVP in the past, this one goes to Paul. That's just how I think it's going to go.

[mkwest]

I'm sure Lakers fans have had plenty of opportunities on their own board to discuss the MVP race. There is no need to interrupt a discussion amongst Clippers fans about who the MVP should be. Including yourselves in our conversation here isn't going to increase the chance Kobe is MVP, all it does is make individual fans stick out like a soar thumb among a classy organization and fan base that is the L.A. Lakers.

Thank you

I have no reason to be bitter about Kobe. He is very talented and will probably end up winning the MVP this season. He's one of the best competitors night in and night out. That goes without saying. He's played tough throughout his injuries and those of his teammates. He lit us up when he had a strained groin. I wish Cat would have taken his strained groin half as well The Lakers have cleaned up pretty nicely after the drama that occurred last offseason. It is good to see him encouraging and motivating his teammates rather than putting them on blast. In that regard it's been a 180. That would be the biggest improvement in my eyes. He led his team to a higher seed than I originally expected, but as I said earlier, so did Paul.

David West is an All-Star this year (whom many seemed to be initially outraged about), and a large part of that was due to Paul. Paul truly does make his teammates better and most certainly gets them involved. The guy is the epitome of efficiency. He bumped his scoring average 4 points, field goal percentage by 5%, further incorporated the longball into his game, as well as having a 4.64 A/T ratio. 20/10/2.5 has only been accomplished by he and Isiah. He's done for the Hornets what Nash did for the Suns as Loflin pointed out. He's truly having a historic season and helping his team surpass the majority's expectations. For what he has accomplished this season in the same tough western conference should be acknowledged and the fact that he is being recognized makes his case just as viable as Kobe, or KG and LeBron or anybody else who will round out the top 5 in voting. Is Kobe the better player? Yes he is. However, the award is for the most valuable to their team, and Paul fits that bill to a tee in my humble opinion.

[SashAlex]

Not that I'm a Laker fan, but I suppose that Kobe is 80 % MVP.
Sasha, Fisher, Radmanovic, Gasol, Bynum earlier in the sason would never got those open looks without Kobe.

Kobe has made it easier for everyone to play b-ball this year, including him !
He's not that "always 40+ point"s player anymore ! But when it's needed, he is stepping up in scoring.

[cinnamon]

I've felt for weeks that Chris Paul was the best choice for MVP, simply because he was the key to making the Hornets what they were this year, and without him they wouldn't have been anywhere near that level --- individually or as a team.
However, the other day I caught up with Bill Simmons' 16th April column making the case for Kevin Garnett for MVP and I have to admit that it is a compelling case.
link: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/080416
Even after these last two disastrous playoff games against the Hawks, I would feel it was completely valid if Garnett won this year ---- or if Chris Paul won.
As for Kobe: they really should institute a lifetime achievement award, and he could get that one instead.

[mkwest]

It's all but official now. Kobe to win MVP

CP3 was robbed!

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I was upset when I heard the news. But what can we do, we're not the ones that vote in the MVP balloting. I can't say that Kobe hasn't helped the Lakers to become a better team but I think Chris Paul did a better job at it.

[PlinkingPanda]

Congrats to Kobe. CP has pleeeeenty of years ahead of him to get some MVP awards.