Bet you thought I was going to suggest Ginobli, or Parker, or Duncan didn't you? Nope. Not this season. 

The rules for voting are pretty clear. There are none. You vote for who you think is the most valuable player. Most valuable? To whom?

The individual team?  Nearly every team has one of those. So that can't be the sole criteria. But he must come from that group, of couse.

The thing is very vague and broad, I think deliberately. There are no fences around this award. It is not limited to stats or wins. It leaves room for those intangibles that do not show up in the stat line, but that we all know as fans are one of the most important things in a player.

I personally think it is the player who does the most to put his team in the position to make a real run at the championship. And the fact that he might not win it, does not mean the choice was incorrect. We have often seen MVP's fall in the playoffs. But this is a regular season award and those players did what they had to during the regular season. The playoffs are a whole different thing.  That is what the finals MVP is for.

There are four legitimate canidates for MVP this season.  Kobe, Paul, KG, and Lebron. Each have their supporters among the fans, and they can all show good reason why their guy should win.

But it is the sportswriters and sportcasters who vote this award, not the fans.

And  from listening to the people who vote,  I get the felling the majority of them are leaning towards Kobe. In this, I have to agree. I think it will be Kobe.

Some reasons I think he will win.  I acknowledge this is just my opinion and could be completely wrong.

1..He has had a great season and has put his team in a great position to make a run for the championship. He deserves it.

2. He is obviously the one who is not only the leader of the Lakers, without him, they would be hard pressed to even make the playoffs, even to have a winning season.

3. He played much of the season missing starting players.

4. He has played with an injured thumb for weeks.

5. He had been passed over in the past when he has deserved it.

6. Garnett while undoubtably the leader of  his  team,  is a member of a "big three," not a single vital player like Kobe and Paul. And they won without him. And he has won before, so there is no feeling o####reat player being passed over time and again.

7. Paul, when it all came down to it, did not get his team to the top spot in the West. In the game where it all mattered, Kobe beat him. And he has time in the future to do it. He has put NO basketball on the map for the first time.

8. LeBron, while in consideration, has the least chance of winning.  He has the best stat line, and has an amazing season personally. And his team has lost when he was not there. But his team has struggled. He will not win for the same reason he did not win last season. Team success. May not be fair, but it is a fact of life.

9.  Kobe entered the season as the sentimental favorite. It was his award to win or lose. The feeling has grown that he has been the best player for several years and has been passed over. Whether that is true or not is not the question. It is how a lot of people feel.

10. The intangibles that I spoke of earlier. The sense tha he is a player who takes the team on his back when he has to . Makes shot when needed to get a run started. In short just does not let his team lose. Will that last through the playoffs? Who knows. But we have seen it take the Lskers to the top of the West in the toughest season I think any of us can remember.

I will be very surprised if Kobe does not win it.

I have often been appalled at his behavior. I have been disgusted at how he took his "plight" to the press last summer and yes, I think he threw everyone under the bus. Sure, it might have worked, but it was not very pleasant to watch. I am not a Kobe fan, I am an admirer of his skills.

But the MVP is not a citizenship award. It is not a community service award. It  is a player's award.