Who da thunk? After incessantly trying to whine his way out of Los Angeles this past off-season – as documented HERE, HERE, and HERE – who da thunk Kobe Bryant would be awarded the NBA MVP award for 2008? Still in a purple and gold LA Laker uniform, no less? Certainly not me. I would love to see those Vegas pre-season odds for a Kobe MVP. He had all but backed up the U-Haul to his mansion, loaded the kids, a drove east before the season began….but here we are….with Bryant being announced the winner at a Tuesday press conference:
Bryant received 82-first-place votes and 1,105 points in the media vote. He was followed by New Orleans’ Chris Paul (28 and 889), Boston’s Kevin Garnett (15 and 670) and Cleveland’s LeBron James (1 and 438).
Bryant will receive the trophy Wednesday night from commissioner David Stern before the Lakers face Utah in Game 2 of their conference semifinal. The Lakers won the opener 109-98.
Word leaked last Friday night that Bryant had won the award.
“I didn’t know if it was going to come in my career, but to have the moment come now is special, especially to share it with the group of guys we have here,” he said the following day. [link]
All is good in L.A. Kobe has teammates that are friends. The Lake Show seems poised to make another championship appearance…I’m ready to pound 18 Coors Lights during Laker playoff games to honor championship teams of yore…this could a real nice summer!
