It will be Kobe or Lebron. Since I am the President of the Kobe Bryant ALS I think he should win it.

So with about 30% of the NBA season remaining, the MVP race is as close as its ever been the past few years. Legit arguments can be made for several different guys. In order, this is how I would rank them right now, with a little under 2 months left to play

1. ) Chris Paul - Well there's not much else to say if you've followed mine and Nas's exchange in the Chandler vs Wallace thread. I think he's the best PG in the game, he's developed an outside shot thats much better than most thought, tremendous in the halfcourt, locks down on defense, consistently gets open looks for everyone on his team, competitive as hell, has shown the ability to get it done in the closing seconds of a game. The only player in the league this year to get 40+ points and 20+ assists in seperate games. Only flaw I've really noticed is he seems to struggle against Deron Williams.

2.) Kobe Bryant - This is basically 1A to CP's #1. He might be playing the best ball of his career, which is really saying alot. IMO, he's the best player in the world, I'd have him slightly above Lebron at this point(See Nas, Im not always all about the young guys). Seems to have reconciled very nicely with Phil and Bynum, gets along well with other young guys like Farmar and Turiaf. Seems to be the true leader of that team, instead of just the best player.

3.) Lebron James - The commitment to playing All World defense this year is the biggest story from Lebron this season. He has always been able to do whatever he wants on the court, the one knock on him always being that he tends to take games off and thats a bad sign for a really young player. He seems to try hard almost every single night now a la Kobe. Supposedly he is 100% in favor of the trade, and right now he is the best player in the Eastern Conference, and that could be enough to topple the C's or Detroit in a 7 game series, shades of game 5 last season.

4.) Steve Nash - Not much new to add here if you have followed the NBA the past few seasons. A terrific offensive guard who doubles as one of the most competitve players in the league. Makes all of his teammates better, has the ability to score 30 any given night or dish out 20 assists, and probably even both in the same game. The one knock I always have on him is his defense, I just dont think its good enough to keep him in the race, considering the three above him are about as good as it gets.

5.) Tim Duncan - I need to mention here that Manu is playing some unbelievable ball the past few weeks, and Duncan's stats are lower than usual. He still has the Spurs right in the mix in the West and his leadership abilities have improved greatly since 2003. He's more vocal with teammates and the refs(ask Joey Crawford). He struggled the first couple months but since January 1st he has led this team on both ends of the floor and has them in a good position to win his 5th title, which would leave him one shy of MJ.

Honorable mentions

Baron Davis - having a career year, the unquestioned leader of Golden State, a team noone wants to see in the first round this year

Dwight Howard - The sky is the limit for this kid. I would not be surprised to see him average 25-15 over the next several seasons.

Brandon Roy - The center of what has been a feel good season for the Blazers, although they have been fading too much lately for him to be up higher

Chris Bosh - Hes been great since the beginning of the new year, an excellent overall shooter, one of the most efficient players in the game. Could use a bit of work on his acting abilities though.

GREAT write-up by the way!

It's called politics.

with LA being alot hotter than New Orleans.

We are gonna get a head to head matchup Friday night with Kobe and Chris Paul. Hornets at Lakers. I think Chris Paul goes for something like 26-15, Hornets win and will get #1 seed, Paul wins MVP.

There's no way Chris Paul doesn't win it. Not only is he putting up numbers but he has the hype machine behind him.

Alot of people think Kobe is going to win it. Its clearly down to those two. Itd be a shame if Paul didnt win it.

Tragic Johnson

Why?
Kobe is playing at a really high level as well, and the Lakers were in good position before they picked up Gasol where many felt they would not be that good. Gasol then went down as well as Bynum, Kobe has the pinky injury but is still playing well and has carried them through all of that despite being less than 100% himself. Plus for one of the greatest players of all time to never win an MVP- to me that would be the shame

I agree with your last sentence. As for the rest of it, I dont disagree, I just think CP has done more with less. For over half the season Paul didnt have a home court advantage, and they havent had anything close to a legit 2 guard the whole year. He has made all the players around him better, and his team is first in the conference and he only had one other borderline all star. I think he means more to his team, is more valuable, than Kobe.

Put KB8 on that roster, they would probably be a little worse, no way West, Chandler, et al are half the players that they have become, Peja would never get an open 3, etc etc.

Paul on the Lakers and they would be 5 games better arguably.

Lakers have the most loaded roster in the league 1-12.

Granted, Kobe is the best overall player (ffense, defense, clutch scoring, yadda yadda yadda) on one of the Associations' glamor franchises, but bottom line is it his turn. The politics comment is spot on.

Chris Paul has played the best this year, i mean anyone that can elevate Tyson Chandler to a legit NBA center should be handed the hardware immediately, however the idiot sportswriters that vote on the MVP will not give him his due. (see: Nowitzki, Dirk)

If you recall there was that year Jordan moved to the point and easily put up the most ridiculous boxcscores in the Association, and yet they still handed the MVP to Tragic Johnson due to it being "his turn".

Think about it, this Lakers team is almost identical to the Lakers team of last year, save for Gasol. I didn't hear anyone saying they had the best team 1-12 last year

I dont think so. They didnt have Fisher last year, Farmar and Bynum dramatically improved. Vujacic also improved alot, enough to become a solid rotation guy. This team is greatly improved over last years team, even without Pau. With him, and with Odom playing as well as he ever has with the Lakers, they have a very talented team.

So the only addition was Fisher? Albeit a solid bench guy, not a difference maker. So what do you attribute this great improvement to then? Like I said, if you're going to give Paul credit for Chandlers play, you have give Kobe credit for Bynum's play elevating dramatically.

Farmar and Bynum were very young guys that were likely to improve anyway. I think Fisher is a solid 5th starter. As for the CP/Chandler analogy I think its more valid because I would argue that as a pure PG Paul makes players better and get better shots, especiallyt in a halfcourt situation, than Kobe does, although hes a primary ballhandler. I usually dont see him create the type of open shots Paul does regularly.

So with about 30% of the NBA season remaining, the MVP race is as close as its ever been the past few years. Legit arguments can be made for several different guys. In order, this is how I would rank them right now, with a little under 2 months left to play

1. ) Chris Paul - Well there's not much else to say if you've followed mine and Nas's exchange in the Chandler vs Wallace thread. I think he's the best PG in the game, he's developed an outside shot thats much better than most thought, tremendous in the halfcourt, locks down on defense, consistently gets open looks for everyone on his team, competitive as hell, has shown the ability to get it done in the closing seconds of a game. The only player in the league this year to get 40+ points and 20+ assists in seperate games. Only flaw I've really noticed is he seems to struggle against Deron Williams.

2.) Kobe Bryant - This is basically 1A to CP's #1. He might be playing the best ball of his career, which is really saying alot. IMO, he's the best player in the world, I'd have him slightly above Lebron at this point(See Nas, Im not always all about the young guys). Seems to have reconciled very nicely with Phil and Bynum, gets along well with other young guys like Farmar and Turiaf. Seems to be the true leader of that team, instead of just the best player.

3.) Lebron James - The commitment to playing All World defense this year is the biggest story from Lebron this season. He has always been able to do whatever he wants on the court, the one knock on him always being that he tends to take games off and thats a bad sign for a really young player. He seems to try hard almost every single night now a la Kobe. Supposedly he is 100% in favor of the trade, and right now he is the best player in the Eastern Conference, and that could be enough to topple the C's or Detroit in a 7 game series, shades of game 5 last season.

4.) Steve Nash - Not much new to add here if you have followed the NBA the past few seasons. A terrific offensive guard who doubles as one of the most competitve players in the league. Makes all of his teammates better, has the ability to score 30 any given night or dish out 20 assists, and probably even both in the same game. The one knock I always have on him is his defense, I just dont think its good enough to keep him in the race, considering the three above him are about as good as it gets.

5.) Tim Duncan - I need to mention here that Manu is playing some unbelievable ball the past few weeks, and Duncan's stats are lower than usual. He still has the Spurs right in the mix in the West and his leadership abilities have improved greatly since 2003. He's more vocal with teammates and the refs(ask Joey Crawford). He struggled the first couple months but since January 1st he has led this team on both ends of the floor and has them in a good position to win his 5th title, which would leave him one shy of MJ.

Honorable mentions

Baron Davis - having a career year, the unquestioned leader of Golden State, a team noone wants to see in the first round this year

Dwight Howard - The sky is the limit for this kid. I would not be surprised to see him average 25-15 over the next several seasons.

Brandon Roy - The center of what has been a feel good season for the Blazers, although they have been fading too much lately for him to be up higher

Chris Bosh - Hes been great since the beginning of the new year, an excellent overall shooter, one of the most efficient players in the game. Could use a bit of work on his acting abilities though.

As far as the Lakers having the best team 1-12, that's debatable too.

No love for Garnett?

Of course it's debatable, just out of curiousity, if you were a GM, who's roster would you rather have?