I realize that it’s old news that Kobe Bryant is this year’s MVP. But the league released the vote tally, and the results are interesting.
Player, Total Points (First Place Votes)
Kobe Bryant, 1105 (82)
Chris Paul, 889 (28)
Kevin Garnett, 670 (15)
LeBron James, 438 (1)
In a recent post, I suggested the possibility of Kobe benefiting from a three-way MVP race because Paul and Garnett would split the “nice guy/good teammate” vote, while all of the Kobe believers and apologists would vote for him, allowing Bryant to win the award with a minority of the first-place votes.
Apparently, that was not the case. Paul and Garnett totaled 43 first-place votes, as compared to Kobe’s 82. Sports writers are typically the ones to complain the most about today’s “me-first” athletes, so it’s a little surprising that they would give the award to Bryant after his actions last summer. There’s no doubt that he and the Lakers had a terrific year, and if he hadn’t thrown Andrew Bynum under the bus and demanded a trade, I would agree that he deserved the award.
I think Paul’s relative age and Garnett’s unspectacular stats worked against them.
