Twelve years.

For twelve years I’ve watched your evolution as a basketball player and as a person.

From the slam dunk championship, the three consecutive NBA championships, 62 points in 3 quarters, 81 points in one game, countless clutch plays — and now your first Most Valuable Player Award.

I’ve read and listened to innumerable criticisms thrown in your direction.

Phil Jackson called you “uncoachable.”

You were branded as aloof, self-centered, a ball hog, incapable of making those around you better, and more concerned with individual accolades than team success.

Despite your many triumphs on court, it hasn’t always been easy being a fan of yours.

There was the incident in Eagle, Colorado, your feuds with Shaquille, your temper-tantrums towards officials, two first round exits, and last summer’s trade demand.

But through all of that — I defended you to anyone that would read or listen — because I believed that a day like yesterday and a season like this one would come.

You were capable of making your teammates better, if only they showed the potential to improve. You would develop into a leader, when surrounded by teammates who had the desire to play to your standard of excellence.

You would redeem yourself.

And you didn’t let me down.

When surrounded by an improved supporting cast, you led your team to the best record in the most competitive conference in NBA history. You sacrificed some of you individual excellence for the betterment of the team.

You didn’t score 50 points every night, not because you weren’t capable, but because it wasn’t necessary to win.

And that’s been your number one goal all along. To win. To become the greatest player who has ever played — by any means necessary.

Even still, when presented with the greatest individual honor in the game, you gave credit to the people who made it possible — your teammates.

“We have done it together,” Bryant said. “This is us playing as a unit. These guys made me look better than I am.”

Phil Jackson, the man who called you “uncoachable” only four years ago said, “I don’t know anybody who’s ever deserved this trophy more. I don’t know anybody who’s ever worked as hard to accomplish what he’s accomplished.”

Jerry West, the man who brought you to the NBA said, “I just don’t think you find people this competitive who play this game,” he said. “You just don’t. He’s always wanted to be the best, and he is the best today.”

I, for one, am proud of you.

I feel privileged to have watched your evolution over the past twelve seasons.

I’m happy to see that all of your obvious hard work is beginning to pay off.

I hope this year’s MVP award gives you some semblance of basketball peace and closes the book on twelve tumultous chapters of your career.

Upon winning the award, you remarked that this year has “been an emotional roller coaster. It’s been a heck of a journey.”

The same could be said of your career as a whole.

I believe the best is yet to come.

ballerblogger.com

The Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz played one another four times during the 2007-2008 regular season with the Lakers taking the season series 3-1. The Lakers won both contests at home and one the last game of the series at Energy Solutions Arena, ending the Jazz’s 19-game home winning streak.

The Lakers own the homecourt in this series and that should be enough for them to advance to their first conference final since 2004.

Keys for Los Angeles

1. Contain Kirilenko

Andrei was a non-factor in the three Laker wins. He averaged 13 points and averaged single digits in both rebounds and assists.

But in Utah’s 106-95 victory, AK47 had a triple-double with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. He’s a unique player. He is only the second player in NBA history (Hakeem Olajuwon) with multipe 5X5 games and is a quadruble double threat every time he steps on the floor.

The Jazz are a completely different team when he gets it going offensively. His offensive success tends to carry over to the defensive side of the ball where he is a three-time All-Defensive team selection.

2. Put Kobe on Deron Williams

CP3 is a great point guard and the popular pick for MVP but all things considered (outside shooting, defense, passing, poise, toughness) I think Deron Williams is the best point guard in the NBA.

D-Will averaged 23 per game versus the Lakers this season and erupted for 35 in Utah’s lone victory.

At 6-3 205 pounds, he has a size advantage over Derek Fisher but Kobe’s length could give him problems on the offensive end and disrupt the timing of the Jazz offense.

3. Continue to play unselfish

Bryant averaged 30 points per game in the season series but LA’s biggest mismatch is in the frontcourt. Carlos Boozer is one of the best power forwards in the game but he can’t defend Gasol AND Odom.

The Lakers need to make whoever is defended by Okur the focal point of the offense and work their offense from the inside-out.

4. Retain their edge

Derek Fisher was booed by the Jazz faithful in Utah's 120-96 victory at home on November 30th. There are more than a few Utah fans that feel Derek departed the team under false pretenses by asking to be let out of his contract so he could sign with a team in a city where his daughter could receive treatment for a cancerous tumor.

Fisher was clearly bothered by the fans reaction in the first game and the Lakers, especially Kobe Bryant, took their boos personal.

LA responded by playing with fire in 106-95 victory back in Utah on March 20th.

That win was capped by a Bryant dunk in the 4th quarter where he let out a primal scream into the crowd (pictured above).

When asked about his behavior after the game by Cheryl Miller, Bryant replied that he was "very upset" at the Jazz fans who chose to boo Derek last time for "no reason."

I doubt Bryant has forgotten about Fisher's reception in their first trip to Utah this season. Utah fans would be wise to keep their mouths shut this time around.

Before the playoffs began, I wrote that as a Laker fan, there were three teams I’d rather not see in the playoffs — the Nuggets, Jazz, and Spurs.

One down, two to go.

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It’s the triangle offense, now available in version 3.0.

These days, Kobe Bryant offers an alley-oop Pau Gasol’s way and the two can exchange roles the very next play. Luke Walton posts up, then drifts out for a three-point shot, or Lamar Odom ducks and dives his way to the rim for enough double-doubles to fill his heart’s content.

The part-mystical, part head-scratching triangle offense is functioning quite smoothly with Gasol completing the Lakers’ trifecta.

Possibly more so than . . . Michael Jordan’s championship days under Phil Jackson? [Read]

The Los Angeles Lakers dismantled the Denver Nuggets 102-84 in front of a raucous Pepsi Center crowd Saturday afternoon.

The Lakers methodically picked apart the Nuggets with crisp passes and balanced scoring.

The Lakers shot 46% from the floor and 35% from the 3-point line.

Kobe Bryant scored 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting and four other Lakers scored in double figures.

While Kobe Bryant and company took what the “defense was willing to give up,” Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson repeatedly forced the issue.

Anthony and Iverson, two of the NBA’s top 5 scorers, took turns doing their best rendition of a one man show. [Read]

(Photo by RealGM)

The Most Valuable Player is presented to the NBA player who receives the highest point total from a panel of chosen sportswriters. These sportswriters cast a vote for their first, second, and third place selections. First place votes receive five points, second place is worth three points, and third place is worth one point. The player who receives the highest point total is then awarded the distinction of Most Valuable Player.

The MVP has historically gone to the best player on one of the teams with the top record in the NBA. No player whose team has won less than 50 games has won the award in the past 25 years.

The Most Valuable Player Award is one of the greatest honors in basketball. It should be regarded with distinction. It shouldn't be a popularity contest controlled by PR much like the ridiculousness that has become the NBA All-Star Game.

The distinction of MVP should not blindly award the best player on the best team. The voting panel needs to do their job or a new committee or criteria should be developed in order to guarantee that the NBA player who is of the most value to his team receives the credit that he rightly deserves.

Team success should not be the barometer by which an individual player is considered to be of most value to his team. Rather than award the title of Most Valuable Player to the best player on the top team, it should go to the NBA player who is of most value to his particular team, with less significance placed upon that team’s win-loss record. Basketball is a team sport. No one player can win consistently without the luxury of a quality-supporting cast.

The value o####reat player encompasses a myriad of basketball intangibles that sadly, are not always guarantors of victories.

Nowhere is this more evident than the Most Valuable Player Award tallies of Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell. Bill Russell won the MVP award in 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1965. The Celtics won the NBA championship in every one of those seasons but 1958.

Wilt Chamberlain didn’t enter the NBA until the year after Russell won his first MVP. Chamberlain was MVP in 1960, his rookie season, and again in 1966, 1967, 1968. Wilt was 1st team All-NBA every season he was MVP. [Read]

"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap Aston Martin's in a single bound!"

Kobe Bryant will unveil his new basketball shoe tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Nike’s lightest and strongest basketball shoe owes its existence to Nike’s revolutionary Flywire technology as it made its transition from track spikes to basketball. Flywire is the innovation driving Nike’s strongest and lightest footwear. Super-strong nylon filaments provide precise support akin to the suspension cables in a bridge, and allow a radical reduction in weight with material only where it’s needed for structure."

Via Ball Don't Lie:

"Love me or hate me, it's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger. Hate that I'm a veteran. A champion. Hate that. Hate it with all your heart. And hate that I'm loved for the exact same reasons." - Kobe Bryant

Few athletes in the history of sports have been vilified as Kobe Bryant has. Throughout his career he’s been labeled as arrogant, self centered, aloof, a ball hog more focused on individual accolades than team success, and a ####.

If you are a Kobe fan than you likely believe him to be not guilty of the sexual assault accusations, you do not blame him for Shaq’s departure from the Lakers, and you view his trade demands and lambasting of the Los Angeles Lakers over the off-season as justified. If you abhor Kobe than you more than likely feel he was responsible for Shaq’s departure and all of the turmoil before and after Shaq’s exit. His trade demands this past summer further proving his self-centeredness and lack of loyalty.

"It's one or the other."

No one besides Kobe and his accuser know what happened in that Eagle, Colorado hotel room. No one. One can study the supposed physical evidence tell blue in the face but it does not prove guilt or innocence. The fact of the matter is that the case never went to trial. It never went to trial because of the scrutiny into his accuser’s personal life and the lack of physical evidence needed to prove guilt without reasonable doubt. It is wrong to presume guilt without due process.

After struggling to earn a 7th seed in last year’s playoffs and being eliminated by the Phoenix Suns for the second straight season, Kobe implored the Lakers to “do something, and do it now.” Shortly thereafter, a Los Angeles Times columnist quoted a Lakers "insider" as saying it was Bryant's insistence on getting away from O'Neal that prompted his trade to Miami. Bryant, infuriated at the report and feeling as if he had been misled about the Lakers apparent long-term plan to rebuild, demanded a trade.

"They said nothing to me about a long-term plan. Absolutely nothing," Bryant told KLAC. "They told Phil one thing and they told me another. Actions speak louder than words."

"Dr. Buss promised me he would rebuild right away, and I believed him," Bryant wrote. "That is why I put my trust in the Lakers.”

Kobe continued to bash the Lakers over the off-season, going as far as calling Jerry Buss an “####” and the Lakers front office a “mess.”

Should Bryant have publicly criticized the Laker front office and called Jerry Buss an ####? No. Have many of us criticized our employers, called our bosses unflattering names to friends and co-workers, and thought we would be better off elsewhere? Yes. The NBA is a business like any other.

Bryant also defended himself against accusations that he forced Shaq out of LA: "The fact of the matter is that many people don't know what really went down when I was approaching free agency because I have stayed quiet about it this whole time," Bryant said. "The real facts are that Dr. Buss requested a meeting with me during the '04 season long before I opted out of my contract, and he told me he had already decided not to extend Shaq, as he was concerned about Shaq's age, fitness and contract demands. Dr. Buss made it clear that his decision was final, his mind was made up, and no matter what I decided to do with free agency, he was still going to move Shaq."

In a surprising turn of events Shaq said that he believed Bryant "100 percent."

"There is no doubt in my mind Kobe is telling the truth," O'Neal added.

Could Bryant have convinced Dr. Buss to retain Shaq? Yes. Should he have? No.

The Lakers may have won one more championship if Shaq had remained in LA (as the Miami Heat did) but they would be in the same position as the Miami Heat are in now. Miami was swept in the first round of the 2006-2007 playoffs and own an NBA worst 11-51 record. The Lakers made the right choice in looking to the future and attempting to put the right pieces around Kobe once he entered his prime. Up until this season, they hadn’t followed through on that choice with continued sound decision making. Bryant may have wanted to be “the man” but he never asked to be surrounded by the likes of Smush Parker and Kwame Brown. He didn’t ask for it and he didn’t deserve it.

Many comparisons have been made between Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. I think there are more parallels than most would consider. Jordan and Bryant share similar basketball skills and while I don’t think anyone will ever approach MJ’s intensity or drive, Kobe is the only player who has come close. MJ was a fierce competitor whose goal was not only to become the best player he could be, but to become the greatest player who ever played. Kobe has the same goal.

Neither MJ nor Kobe has ever been labeled as “fun” to play with. MJ rode his teammates relentlessly in practice and in games so that they would adhere to his standard of excellence. His intensity once resulted in a punch to Steve Kerr’s eye and the departure of Horace Grant to Orlando. Jordan, like Bryant also received more than his fair share of criticism for dominating the basketball and not being a “team player” early in his career. Even Chicago's last three championships were a result of MJ averaging around 26 shot attempts per game and shooting below 50%.

Imagine Michael Jordan having been drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers instead of Bryant. Regardless of whether you believe they belong in the same company when comparing basketball skill, realize that they share the same competitive drive. I find it very difficult to envisioning a young, tongue wagging Jordan (the same one who averaged 37 points early in his career) taking a backseat to Shaq any easier or longer than Kobe did. Jordan would never have sat back and watched Shaquille coast through regular seasons without feeling a need to take over and an overwhelming desire to show the world his skills.

Imagine Jordan being forced to endure first round exits in the prime of his career. As great as MJ was, one player can only do so much. Jordan was BLESSED to play with Scottie Pippen and an assortment of veterans who knew their roles and played them to a T. If you think MJ could win titles surrounded by the likes of Kobe’s supporting cast the past three years, you’re sorely mistaken.

MJ would never been content with anything other than a championship supporting cast. Jordan absolutely could not stand to lose or fail, Kobe is the same way. The very thing that drives great players like Jordan and Bryant can also be to their detriment. They have enormous egos, are in love with their abilities, have unrattling confidence that they will succeed in any endeavor, and will take a backseat to no one.

Would MJ have gone about voicing his displeasure in the manner that Bryant did? Probably not for fear that his immaculate image would be tarnished and he wouldn't sell as many Air Jordans, but then again, he never had to. Jordan hated Chicago's General Manager Jerry Krause and by association the Bulls owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. The only thing that kept things together in Chicago was the fact that Krause put together a supporting cast that Jordan could not have won without.

Before this season, Kobe’s critics claimed he was incapable of making his teammates better and he was only concerned with winning scoring titles and other individuals accolades. This season, those critics are being proven wrong. Kobe Bryant is a winner. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. With the Lakers having lost seven games in a row and in danger of missing the playoffs last season, Kobe scored 65 to lead LA to an overtime victory over Portland. Kobe would go on to AVERAGE 53.7 ppg over the next five games, all wins. As for the making his teammates better accusations, how much better could Kwame Brown and Smush Parker have been?

This season, the Los Angeles Lakers have finally delivered on their promise to surround Kobe with a championship contending team. He has responded with an MVP caliber year and done anything and everything necessary to lead the Lakers to a Western Conference best 44-19 record. Gone are the 50 point games, not because he’s incapable of producing them, but because they aren’t necessary to win.

Kobe Bryant doesn't play for scoring titles, he plays for NBA championships. It’s easy to be amazed at that five game 50-point stretch last season but I don’t think anyone realizes the type of commitment that it takes to achieve that level of basketball mastery. Now imagine working that HARD year in and year out, only to be rewarded with an inept supporting cast and an early exit out of the playoffs.

It’s impossible to absolve Kobe of all responsibility in the drama that has enveloped the Los Angeles Lakers over the past 4 years. It is possible to note the factors that led to his behavior. Up until this season, the Lakers had FAILED MISERABLY at building around him. Lamar Odom was never a legitimate second option and the trade of Caron Butler for Kwame Brown was a travesty. Key free agent opportunities (Baron Davis, Carlos Boozer) had come and gone.

Bryant knows that NBA championships won with him as “the man” are the only way to distinguish himself as worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as MJ. This isn’t a man who plays for celebrity or a paycheck. Kobe Bryant plays for legacy, a legacy that he hopes is culminated with him being crowned the greatest player ever.

Kobe’s career will never be as picture perfect as MJ’s was. From the feuds with Shaquille, to the sexual assault allegation, to the trade demands, it’s been one tumultuous turn after another over the past decade. I hope that this season marks an end to the turmoil and Kobe achieves some sense of basketball peace.

I don’t agree with everything that Bryant has done throughout his career. But I do believe that many of the mistakes he has made result from his desire to win and leave a lasting legacy. I respect his commitment to the game. I love that Kobe fears no one and no thing on the basketball court and he truly strives and puts in the work necessary to become the game's greatest player. I admire the fact that he doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind and hasn’t created a false image. For better or worse, what you see is what you get, take it or leave it, this is Kobe Bryant.

One can choose to perceive Kobe as a self centered, egotistical individual with no sense of loyalty. I, and many others choose to view him as a player who has made his fair share of mistakes but also as someone trying desperately to become the best basketball player he can be; the greatest player who has ever played.

“It’s one or the other.”

- Please feel free to contact me via e-mail (foxblogs24@hotmail.com) with comments or questions.