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.

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I think it's going to be Kobe, especially with all the trade demands to start the season, and now LA is possibly the best team in the NBA with Kobe leading the charge.

GREAT write-up by the way!

I was trying to tap my inner BD. This, however, is peanuts compared to the tidbits.

I am kind of agreeing on Kobe getting it too. He definitely has more momentum right now, with LA being alot hotter than New Orleans. If he doesnt slip with the finger injury, and LA finishes with a division crown, I think it probably is his. I actually would much rather see him win than anyone else, I cant believe a player of that magnitude would get 10+ seasons into his career without an MVP award.

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I really hope you are wrong, though I wouldnt doubt it for a second.

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From tonight's AP Recap:

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kobe Bryant established the tone for this season from opening night: He's going for his fourth championship instead of his third consecutive NBA scoring title. .......

"The real value of a super player is that he makes other players better," coach Phil Jackson said. "You can see the apparent emphasis of Kobe's game to get other people involved and make the rest of his team better."

Yeah I'm probably gonna go ahead and not bet against him this spring.

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no New Orleans is hotter...oh you meant in basketball...

i agree, especially with PinkyGate (why not it's fun), Kobe has been pretty amazing this year and I'd say he gets the MVP this year.

Still don't think the Lakers win it all though.

I think they are definitely the best team right now, but they might be a year away. In the offseason if they add a quality outside shooter with the MLE, that will make them even more dangerous.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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".

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Nice nickname. Talk about overrated. Take Dennis Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Mo Cheeks, or any other top PG in the league and put him on those Lakers teams and they would've won just as many titles.

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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.

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Worthy, Kareem, Mychal Thompson (one of the most underrated role players in the history of hoops), Scott, AC (37 year old virgin at that point) put Craig Ehlo on that team they still might have won a few trophies.

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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.

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Thats definitely overstating it a bit. Chandler would have been as good, Look at what Bynum became with Kobe. Im not saying CP is better than Kobe, I dont think he is. I think hes done a better job this season getting more with less, and I think that if he wins the conference thats even more reason to put him at the top.

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I don't understand your point. You say Paul elevated Chandlers game- how about Bynum? Did anyone think he was going to play at that type of level? Don't you have to give Kobe some credit for that if you're going to give Paul credit for Chandlers game? I'm sure if you look at the numbers Bynum's increases from last year would be much greater than Chandlers. Granted he is having a great year but he had a pretty good year last year too

As far as the Lakers having the best team 1-12, that's debatable too. Yes they got Gasol but even before that Kobe got them to the point where they were still in contention to make that deal. Do you think if they were out of the race, under .500 that they would have been out there looking to add players? 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.

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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.

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Well of course, Kobe isn't a PG. We're more arguing who was more important to their team. Of course I would agree that Paul is a better playmaker than Kobe in terms of getting other people shots- that's his job. Kobe is much better than Paul in several other areas though, and that's not to say he's a poor passer either

In fact, it seems Chandlers numbers from last year are almost identical to this years numbers, except he's averaging about 1ppg more this year

Paul was on last years team as well.

There's no argument, I'm just saying (opinion) that Paul has done more to elevate the play of his teammates than KB, though that is like choosing between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini.

Will he win the trophy? no. As previously implied, the MVP is a cumulative lifetime acheivement award, like the Oscar. I heard this on Dan Patrick the other night, out of all Al Pacino's great roles, what did he finally win the statue for? Scent of a Woman.

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The biggest difference between the Hornets 06/07 and 07/08 is that Peja has been healthy all year. He gives them an outside option for CP3 to kick out to when he needs help. Peja is giving them about 16 ppg compared to only playing 16 games all year.

No love for Garnett?

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

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An obvious oversight. At the time I took into account how well Boston played without KG(something like 10-2 without him) and his career low stats. I should have realized however, that his importance had nothing to do with points and rebounds. It was more of a change of atmosphere and energy he brought to the team. The symbol of the Celtic's resurrection.

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Are we talking about Lakers vs. Hornets?

I'd have to say the Hornets....In the long term, Kobe has a lot of hard miles on his body from the playoffs whereas Paul is relatively fresh and doesn't totally play a reckless style like Wade where you figure he won't last too long. West has had broken ankles but again, he's relatively young too as is Chandler. And I'd say Peja is really the only bad contract the Hornets have, and it's not like with Paul feeding him for wide open 3's that he's useless or anything- just overpaid. The Lakers are more of a veteran team built for winning now. Bynum is really the only young star they have (I know, Vucachick and Farmar but I'm not buying that) and he's coming off serious surgery.