Bryant Wins First MVP

Kobe Bryant, guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, has been named MVP for the 2007-2008 NBA season. Bryant has been in the NBA for 12 seasons and has been to many All-Star games. He has also won three championships with the Lakers in the early part of the decade. But he hasn't won one thing before and that came today. This is Bryant's first MVP award in his storied NBA career, after leading the team in scoring and placing second on the scoring list this season. However, it didn't look like Bryant would be in a Lakers' uniform this year after demanding last offseason that he wanted a trade. He told Lakers' management that he wanted a trade because they did not get the players necessary to win a championship. A lot of things changed this season. Derek Fisher left the Utah Jazz and came back to the Lakers, where he also won three championships. It provided a veteran leader at the point guard position and Smush Parker, last year's point guard, was not needed. The emergence of young center Andrew Bynum also helped the Lakers to the #1 seed as well. But the management made the biggest move of all. On February 1, Pau Gasol, All-Star of the Memphis Grizzlies was traded to the Lakers for four players. That trade satisfied Bryant a lot and he was able to share the ball with the weapons he had. Other MVP candidates included Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, who came in second, Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics, who came in third, and Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who came in fourth. Does Bryant deserve the award, considering the weapons he had around him? How far will the Lakers go in the playoffs? Will this be Bryant's only MVP award?