Friday MVP Update: Most Valuable Mamba

Kobe found his ups again...look out NBA.
      

           The Black Mamba strikes again. As stated in yesterday’s column, Kobe has managed to find the fountain of youth. Somehow he has harnessed physical abilities that he hasn’t had in years and as always, with another year under his belt comes another year of basketball knowledge to use at his disposal amongst his youthful, inexperienced peers. All this praise and I’m not even a fan of Kobe. That’s how impressive Kobe has been after the first twelve games of the season.

            In his last two games Kobe has scored 40 and 48 points respectively. After starting the season with two losses Kobe has led the Lakers to win eight out of their last ten games. He is averaging more assists, rebounds and blocks then last year and leading the league in scoring. This is a Kobe of old. And as such, with the Lakers atop the Pacific division and only two games back from being atop the Western Conference, it does not look as if Kobe is fading anytime soon.

            Begrudgingly, I have been forced to rank Kobe number one in this weeks MVP rankings. When he is his Most Valuable Mamba (MVM) he is also the MVP in the league. If he can sustain this level of play throughout the season I can’t see a reason why he couldn’t claim his second MVP award.

            Following Kobe in the rankings is Derrick Rose, who, despite seeing a drop in numbers from his MVP season last year, is leading an even more defensively dominant Bulls team. LeBron comes in third this week. Even though he is still putting up numbers, LeBron isn’t doing it when it matters at the end of games and it has cost the Heat their last two. Yeah, it’s just the regular season, but it’s about time for LeBron to close games out and to do it consistently.

MVP Rankings

1.    Kobe Bryant- The Black Mamba is leading the league in scoring and has the Lakers trending towards the best record in the league. In a year when we all thought we’d seen him fade a bit due to the mileage he has put onto his body, he is putting together an impressive resume for this years award.

2.    Derrick Rose- The Bulls (10-2) hold the best record in the Eastern Conference largely due to the leadership of D-Rose. His scoring is down this season but his assist numbers are up. To put this into perspective, he is becoming more of a true point guard, doing a better job at facilitating and making the players around him better. An adequate exchange for the drop in points I’d say.

3.    LeBron James- LeBron is averaging a mind boggling 29 points, 7.5 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 2 steals per game. He would easily still be atop my rankings had he closed out the past two games against the Clippers and Warriors. Instead, he and the Heat showed glimpses of what hobbled them last season; being able to keep the foot on the gas in the 4^th in order to close out games that were already won in the 3^rd. Hopefully this eternal disappearing act is just that, an act.

4.    Kevin Durant- After two tough losses to Dallas and Portland to ring in the New Year, Durant has led the Thunder on a five game win streak. They share the best record in the league with the Bulls, but Durant has been getting more side support from Westbrook and Harden as of late, which is why he has dipped in my rankings. This isn’t much of a surprise considering the layout of the season, but KD’s ability to win the MVP will hinge on if he can claim his third scoring title and lead the Thunder to the best record in the league.

5.    Dwight Howard- D12 set a record for FT attempts in an NBA regular season game last night. To bad he only hit half of them. Still, he put up an astronomical 45 points, 23 rebounds, 3 assist, 2 block and 4 steal performance in a win against the Warriors last night. This is the type of performance that Howard should be able to produce on a weekly basis. If he could only become more consistent offensively and hit more FTs he could find his way to an MVP award. On a side note, he quietly has the Magic tied with the Heat for the Southeast Division lead.

6.    Dirk Nowitzki- After dropping the first three games this season, Dirk has led the Mavs to win six of their last eight. His numbers are down from last year and that is probably due to some fatigue from the championship run. Still, he is the leader of the team and my guess is he is saving some gas in the tank for the playoffs.

7.    Chris Paul- Lob City has won four of five including Wednesday nights trumping of a healthy Miami Heat. He is the clear leader of this team and is making those around him better. The Clippers will get better throughout the season as they learn how to gel on the fly.

8.    LaMarcus Aldridge- He has the Blazers amongst the Western Elite and on the heals of the Thunder for the Northwest Division lead. Still thriving off his late season surge from last year, Aldridge looks like he is here to stay amongst the leagues elite.

9.    Kevin Love- I know his team’s record isn’t impressive, but their play has improved and Kevin Love’s numbers are dominant. Averaging 23.6 points and 14.7 rebounds per game, Love will rise in these rankings once the Wolves start putting together more wins.

10.  Carmelo Anthony- Melo is one of the best scorers in the game today. Unfortunately the Knicks haven’t heard of defense and have been hovering around mediocrity in the standings. He rolled his ankle last night against the Grizzlies. Hopefully he doesn’t miss much time.