Bryant gets nod over James for first-half MVP (column from Yahoo Sports)

[Mo Z. Dizzle]

By Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports
January 26, 2008

Adrian Wojnarowski
Yahoo! Sports

There are still three weeks to All-Star weekend, but the NBA has reached its midway mark and that makes it an ideal time to take out the erasable ink. The beauty of the season is the fluidity of story lines, the rise and fall of fortunes, so clearly these choices can change come April.

Nevertheless, here are the season’s best and worst:

Most Valuable Player: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers

Sometimes, there are superstars due to win the Most Valuable Player Award. It is the year owed them. No one wants to hear this, but it’s true. Kevin Garnett has an MVP trophy. So does Dirk Nowitzki. Steve Nash has two. Once Shaquille O’Neal left, Bryant was considered an unworthy candidate because the Lakers were still losing.

Well, they’re winning again now. Until Andrew Bynum went down, they were on the brink of the Western Conference’s best record.

Sorry, but just because the Boston Celtics have the NBA’s best record, it doesn’t make them its best team. They play in the Eastern Conference. What KG has done with Boston has been impressive – even inspirational – but it isn’t on a level plane with Bryant transforming the Lakers back into Western Conference contenders. Early in the season, it looked like LeBron James. Before he’s done, James will win four or five MVPs. But unless the Lakers collapse, I’ll make the Cleveland Cavaliers star wait a little longer.

To think that Garnett could have two MVP trophies before Bryant gets his first is unfair. To become an MVP, people told Kobe to win without Shaq. He’s doing it. This time, it’s his trophy.

Least Valuable Player: Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets

Nothing predicts a Nets freefall better than a comfortable, well-paid and unmotivated Carter. Half-man, half-hearted. They are in the middle of a coach-killing, eight-game losing streak, and no one is playing softer than Carter. He has stopped going to the rim, stopped risking life and limb and declared his new four-year, $62 million contract fit for a suburban jump shooter.

As badly as Rod Thorn would love to trade him, there are no takers. Ownership wanted to overpay Carter last summer – not the basketball people – and they’re stuck with him.

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Durant, Seattle SuperSonics

Let’s say Greg Oden didn’t get hurt. Let’s say he was getting 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks a game for the Northwest Division-leading Portland Trail Blazers. Would the credit Oden received for helping turn Portland into an immediate contender (although we know now that they did it without him) offset Durant’s statistics?

Rookie Bust: Joakim Noah, Chicago Bulls

Because he stayed three years at Florida, won two titles and had been celebrated as the ultimate energy and team player, Noah deserves to be judged a little harsher.

Listen, he will still probably turn out to be a good pro. It takes time, but his immaturity and rich kid sense of entitlement made a dysfunctional situation worse with the Bulls. As a rookie, people can live with the struggles. They can live with it taking time to adapt to the NBA. Yet, no one can live with the insubordination that he showed with assistant coach Ron Adams prior to getting a two-game suspension in mid-January. Maybe his chatter will be entertaining when he’s considered a good player, but until then, Noah needs to grow up.

Coach of the Year: Byron Scott, New Orleans Hornets

Nate McMillan is 1-A, but the Portland Trail Blazers coach has inherent advantages that Scott doesn’t with New Orleans. The Hornets have the best record in the Western Conference with one of the league’s worst home-court advantages and a bargain-basement bench. What’s more, Portland owner Paul Allen would pay for depth, but George Shinn asks his wildly underrated GM, Jeff Bower, to do more with less.

Non-Coach of the Year: Pat Riley, Miami Heat

Even Randy Wittman hasn’t lost 15 straight games with the Celtics JV roster in Minnesota. Perhaps it should be Isiah Thomas, but I expect more out of Riley. If only Riles could get Stan Van Gundy to come take over another one of his messes.

Executive of the Year: Danny Ainge, Boston Celtics

Beyond the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades, Ainge made one of the most underrated signings of the summer: James Posey. Around the Celtics locker room, they privately call it “The Big Four” because of the impact Posey’s intensity and defensive presence brings to Boston.

Executive Disaster of the Year: Isiah Thomas, New York Knicks

This is a career achievement award for Thomas. Kevin McHale has been a different disaster, but he does have a blossoming young star in Al Jefferson, No. 1 picks and cap space on the way. Odds are, he’ll do nothing with it, but at least you know Thomas has no chance with the constitution of his team.

Under his leadership, Thomas has helped make Madison Square Garden one of the nastiest, most poisonous environments in professional sports.

In Indiana, there are still front-office officials cursing Thomas for talking them into drafting Fred Jones over Tayshaun Prince. Jones will be an All-Star, Thomas told them. Rest assured, Thomas is still telling Knicks owner, Jim Dolan, that, too. Just give me three more years, Isiah must say, and you’ll see.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AoqqgKmCD2cZ0uZexUjjRfC8vLYF?slug=aw-midseasonawards012608

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

[GangstaBoogy]

^ 4th or 5th? I'd say he deserved in in 02-03 and 05-06 seasons.

[7even]

I say let's see how his team does in Bynum's absence. If they continue to lose a good portion of games, I say let's give MIP to Bynum and MVP to someone else.

Note: I of course didn't mean that literally. MIP is for Paul to lose.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^ 4th or 5th? I'd say he deserved in in 02-03 and 05-06 seasons.

He shoulda' got it last year, too...MVP, IMO, is the most valuable player in the league, not the most valuable player on the most valuable team. 2001 was arguable, as well.

[WC Iz Active]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

[OG Hack Wilson]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

kobe wasn't even MVP of his own team in 2002

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

kobe wasn't even MVP of his own team in 2002

I said 2001, Crack Wilson.

2001...2003...2005...2006. Kobe shoulda won AT LEAST 3/4 of those years.

[OG Hack Wilson]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

kobe wasn't even MVP of his own team in 2002

I said 2001, Crack Wilson.

2001...2003...2005...2006. Kobe shoulda won AT LEAST 3/4 of those years.

kobe wasnt MVP of his team in 2001 or 2003 too.

in 2004 he was the 4th best player on his team LOL.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

kobe wasn't even MVP of his own team in 2002

I said 2001, Crack Wilson.

2001...2003...2005...2006. Kobe shoulda won AT LEAST 3/4 of those years.

kobe wasnt MVP of his team in 2001 or 2003 too.

in 2004 he was the 4th best player on his team LOL.

Kobe was the 4th best player on his team? Holy shit, seriously, now... you  _NEVER_  deserve to make a comment about basketball on this site again.

[OG Hack Wilson]

If it weren't for the media wanting Kobe dead, he'd be going on his 4th or 5th one right about now.

bit of a bold statement

kobe wasn't even MVP of his own team in 2002

I said 2001, Crack Wilson.

2001...2003...2005...2006. Kobe shoulda won AT LEAST 3/4 of those years.

kobe wasnt MVP of his team in 2001 or 2003 too.

in 2004 he was the 4th best player on his team LOL.

Kobe was the 4th best player on his team? Holy shit, seriously, now... you  _NEVER_  deserve to make a comment about basketball on this site again.

resume wise he was

payton was washed up and malone was too.

but resume wise.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Do you realize how dumb you sound? I mean, honestly? I'm not saying this as a Laker fan, I'm saying this as a basketball head. You sound straight up RETARDED and out of touch with reality. Saying that Gary Payton and Karl Malone have better resumes than Kobe is something you don't want people hearing you say...and Shaq fell way off by '04. The only championship season where Shaq was undisputedly the better player of the duo was in 2000, when Kobe was 21...PeACe

[OG Hack Wilson]

Do you realize how dumb you sound? I mean, honestly? I'm not saying this as a Laker fan, I'm saying this as a basketball head. You sound straight up RETARDED and out of touch with reality. Saying that Gary Payton and Karl Malone have better resumes than Kobe is something you don't want people hearing you say...and Shaq fell way off by '04. The only championship season where Shaq was undisputedly the better player of the duo was in 2000, when Kobe was 21...PeACe

karl malone in his prime > kobe in his prime.


karl malone was a fucking beast.  just could never beat Jordan (or the pistons hahahaha)

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Do you realize how dumb you sound? I mean, honestly? I'm not saying this as a Laker fan, I'm saying this as a basketball head. You sound straight up RETARDED and out of touch with reality. Saying that Gary Payton and Karl Malone have better resumes than Kobe is something you don't want people hearing you say...and Shaq fell way off by '04. The only championship season where Shaq was undisputedly the better player of the duo was in 2000, when Kobe was 21...PeACe

karl malone in his prime > kobe in his prime.


karl malone was a fucking beast.  just could never beat Jordan (or the pistons hahahaha)

LMAO...More dumbness. You just keep proving that you're a Laker hater to the core.