The Lakers may be making a believer out of their number 1 hater.  No, seriously, according to the blogs I'm just a Kobe hater.  Still, the way they destroyed the Jazz last night was impressive.  Taking out Dallas on their court was respectable also.  When you consider it was without Pau Gasol ... even the haters  got to give up props!

Lakers now have truly emerged as one of the top 4 contenders for the western conference crown, along with the Spurs, Rockets, and Suns.

Did Kobe get back in the MVP race with the last 2 victories?  Jeez Louise I hate to say it ... but I think it's true.  What is to become of me?  Maybe I should spout like 50 cent and say if Kobe gets the MVP I'll leave the business!  50 cent didn't honor his words when Kanye West beat him in record sales.

Well, the Lakers ain't champs yet and Kobe ain't MVP.   So, make me believe it.

My God ... now I have to hear about how great the LAKERS are now for who knows how long. I long for the days when they were a miserable bunch of whiners who couldn't shoot straight led by the  prima donna. Wasn't that just last year? Now, it's the Lakers vs Celtics in the NBA finals already and Kobe for league MVP! Enough! Kobe never gets MVP because he's just Dominique on a better team with a great coach. Look at most of your past MVPs and you will see they dominated in more than one category. Iverson was a league leading scorer and among the leaders in steals. Duncan was among scoring and rebound leaders. Ditto for Shaq. Kobe scores like many scorers before him. LeBron James, however, appears regularly among the scoring and assist leaders and is a true triple threat. If the MVP does not got to Kevin Garnett, it should go to LeBron. (I'm not a Kobe hater, but he has a long way to go to win me back as a fan.)