Sports Columnists

By Joe

April 19, 2006 12:33 PM | Link to this

Kobe also plays D unlike LeBron. The East is also pathetic and doesn’t deserve an MVP. Good pick…

By brewerfaninATL

April 19, 2006 01:42 PM | Link to this

Steve Nash…hands down! Who else has meant more for their team than him? With no Amare Stoudemire, this team was left for dead, but Nash keeps this team steady and on an even keel!

By marise

April 19, 2006 01:57 PM | Link to this

I’m not really a Kobe fan but… without him, noway the Lakers make the playoffs. And Kwame seems to be a better player playing with Kobe. I think the Suns would have made the playoffs if Amare was healthy and Steve was hurt.

By ferg

April 19, 2006 02:34 PM | Link to this

Mr. Moore though I’ve admired the The Atl’s most despied negroe for decades, you are way off base. If Lebron did not suit up for the Cavs, they would still be a five hundred team, which by the way in the pitifull East could qualify for the play-offs. If Kobe did not suit up for the Lakers they would be the Hawks. Walton JR. (the great white hope) Chris Mihns ala Shawn Bradley, and leave us not forget Siss-seme Brown. Kobe is like Barry Bonds the most hated, upity negroe in America (besides yourself). Kobe is the ONLY superstar that plays on both ends, when he plays Lebron , he checks him, when he plays McGrady he checks him, D. Wade, Carmelo, and Vince however they don’t check him. I want you to admit what we both know Mr. Moore, Lebron is a monster but does not play defense nor is he a killa, and he does not close games. Kobe Bryant at this point is the best that we have seen and what is so scary he still has eight years of dominate basketball.

By MissQC

April 19, 2006 02:57 PM | Link to this

Kobe all the way, all the time

By MissQC

April 19, 2006 02:57 PM | Link to this

Kobe all the way, all the time

By motor city

April 19, 2006 03:09 PM | Link to this

I like to thanks yall for considerating what a mvp really is . Mvp is more than scoring 45 every now and again . It was making the steals, assists and other intangibles lists . If was about scoring Bernard King would have own more mvps than championships . So I ‘m focus on season and champions not mediocrity. Kobe and Lebron are great individual players , but not M J status . He is a good all around player . This year my vote is neither . Chauncey represent !!!!!

By David

April 19, 2006 04:08 PM | Link to this

Kobe Bryant is the MVP! Kobe left the shadows of Shaquille O’Neal because he kept getting robbed out of MVP trophies when Shaq was in LA. In fact, Kobe had to run Shaq out on a rail in order to be properly treated and respected. If you recall, the third LA championship when the Lakers won 3 straight championships was single-handedly brought home on the backside of Kobe Bryant, but the trophy was given to Shaq-Daddy because Shaq is 7-1, 360 lbs and is the biggest creature on the planet! Kobe broke many of Michael Jordan’s records in route to LA’s third consecutive title, but Kobe’s performance was viciously swept under the rug in favor of the Diesel, the Great Aristotle, the Big Empty and the Human Boulder! Now that the greatest underachiever and the most overweight blob of flux has departed LA, Kobe can now claim his birthright and that is to polish off his very own MVP trophy. The trophy is rightfully earned by Bryant, but LaBron is in Kobe’s rear-view mirror and is more than a deer in the headlights. LaBron will win the MVP next year, but this year let’s savor one of the greatest players in NBA history getting what he so richly deserves and that is the crown jewel of accomplishments — the MVP!

By Scott

April 19, 2006 04:33 PM | Link to this

Steve Nash means more to his team than either of those guys and has led them to more recent success. Just look at what the Suns lost from last years roster and look where they are now.

By ATLborn

April 19, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

LeBron should run-off with the MVP trophy in a laugher. Lebron doesn’t play D?? Gimme some of that ish you all r smoking, the street value of it has to be 10Gs an ounce.

LJ gets many on-time blocks and steals. He may not shut u down the entire game like Kobe can but he’s a much better all around player than him. LJ is a better rebounder, passer and would be just as good a scorer if he shunned passing and was out to prove a point like Kobe.

I do recall the Lakers’ 3rd title run. I recall Shaq carrying them in the playoffs. Kobe was nothing more than a Scotty Pippen to Shaq’s Jordan. Don’t think so? Just watch in this year’s playoffs. Kobe and crew will be lucky to get out of the first round. If the Lakers make it to the 2nd round they’ll be sent packing before Game 6.

By JD

April 19, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

Kwame Brown suddenly a force because of Kobe? Last season Kwame was hurt for a good portion but compare his numbers this year to 03-04 when he was healthy and played the same number of games and minutes

03-04: 10.9 pts/gm 7.4 reb/gm 1.5 assists/gm 05-06: 7.3 pts/gm 6.6 reb/gm 1.0 assists/gm

Unless you think Kobe somehow made him healthy this year it appears his game has actually diminished since coming to LA

By Barbara

April 19, 2006 04:49 PM | Link to this

What happened to Steve Nash? Look what happens to the Suns when he’s out, for God’s sake. Look at the records he’s producing.

By teheran

April 19, 2006 05:04 PM | Link to this

Kobe is the best and most hated player in the NBA. KOBE all the WAY.

By teheran

April 19, 2006 05:04 PM | Link to this

Kobe is the best and most hated player in the NBA. KOBE all the WAY.

By teheran

April 19, 2006 05:04 PM | Link to this

Kobe is the best and most hated player in the NBA. KOBE all the WAY.

By Dwayne

April 19, 2006 05:18 PM | Link to this

Just the mere factor that people are talking about Lebron being MVP makes me laugh. “He could be the best of all time” is what they are saying, he’s not even the best in the league. MVP has to be either Kobe or Nash, either way, it’s still a much better choice than Lebron.

By Bryan G.

April 19, 2006 05:18 PM | Link to this

I’ll take Boris Diaw as MVP….

By chap

April 19, 2006 05:23 PM | Link to this

What a great question, maybe the two best players in the NBA for the next ten years. Who do you take Butch Cassidy or the Sundance Kid? Each have outstanding talent, on the court intelligence, and can see about two seconds ahead of the game; but all in all, today I take Kobe, but next year or the year after it would have to be LeBron. Butch will soon be slowing down and Kid will be building speed.

By dewan lee

April 19, 2006 05:54 PM | Link to this

Lebro i a l;augher. I am not hating on Nash but this year he did not deserve the award. If he does then so does J Kidd or Vinsanity. Phoenix has some talent and that was why they duked ATL with JJ. Phoenix had no intention of paying JJ since they kinew that they had capable players to support. They also knew what the Hawks did not and myself included and that is that Diaw can play. I thought he was at best a JV player on SW Dekalbs basketball team. As far as Kobe he did his thing but he also failed to involve his teammates so that is why he is not the MVP. If he is the MVP then lets go back and award Nique the MVP’s from yesteryears. That is right I hit that button. In a landslide Lebron is the MVP as he has brought the Cavs to the playoffs regardless of conference. Last time I checked they won more games than the Lakers and his supposed sidekick missed most of they year and DaMon Jones has nto hit a shot since the 2nd round of the playoffs with Miami last year.

By dewan lee

April 19, 2006 05:55 PM | Link to this

Lebro i a l;augher. I am not hating on Nash but this year he did not deserve the award. If he does then so does J Kidd or Vinsanity. Phoenix has some talent and that was why they duked ATL with JJ. Phoenix had no intention of paying JJ since they kinew that they had capable players to support. They also knew what the Hawks did not and myself included and that is that Diaw can play. I thought he was at best a JV player on SW Dekalbs basketball team. As far as Kobe he did his thing but he also failed to involve his teammates so that is why he is not the MVP. If he is the MVP then lets go back and award Nique the MVP’s from yesteryears. That is right I hit that button. In a landslide Lebron is the MVP as he has brought the Cavs to the playoffs regardless of conference. Last time I checked they won more games than the Lakers and his supposed sidekick missed most of they year and DaMon Jones has nto hit a shot since the 2nd round of the playoffs with Miami last year.

By Pompano

April 19, 2006 06:03 PM | Link to this

Kobe should change his name to Tonto cause without Shaq he’s just a flashy selfish sidekick. Without a doubt the most over-rated player of all-time.

I agree with dewan - if Kobe is in the running for MVP then Nique should own a closet full of them.

By jason

April 19, 2006 06:08 PM | Link to this

Your argument is baseless. You claim the Cavs would be so bad without Lebron. Have you thought how bad the Lakers would be without Kobe? Let’s see, Larry Hughes, Flip Murray, Drew Gooden vs Lamar Odom, Kwayme (are you kidding me) Brown and Luke Walton. The Cavs minus Lebron would sweep the Lakers minus Kobe in 4 straight.

By Young Jeezy

April 19, 2006 06:18 PM | Link to this

Steve Nash should win, and it ain’t even close. When you can make certified scrubs like Boris Diaw and Tim Thomas into contenders, you get my MVP vote automatically.

By Pompano

April 19, 2006 06:18 PM | Link to this

Kobe should change his name to Tonto cause without Shaq he’s just a flashy selfish sidekick. Without a doubt the most over-rated player of all-time.

I agree with dewan - if Kobe is in the running for MVP then Nique should own a closet full of them.

By jason

April 19, 2006 06:39 PM | Link to this

Your argument is baseless. You claim the Cavs would be so bad without Lebron. Have you thought how bad the Lakers would be without Kobe? Let’s see, Larry Hughes, Flip Murray, Drew Gooden vs Lamar Odom, Kwayme (are you kidding me) Brown and Luke Walton. The Cavs minus Lebron would sweep the Lakers minus Kobe in 4 straight.

By jb

April 19, 2006 07:10 PM | Link to this

KOBE, KOBE, AND MORE KOBE !

By Pat

April 19, 2006 07:15 PM | Link to this

I find it funny when you guys say Lebron has no supporting cast but he has a allstar center in Big Z. The Lakers had no REAL inside threat and the Cavs only won 4 more games then the Lakers in a weak conference. And if you think the East is not weak then explain to me why 3 of the teams in the east will make the playoffs with sub .500 records.

By AP #22

April 19, 2006 07:24 PM | Link to this

KB is not MJ But he is the closest thing to him. If you are an NBA fan you will agree that we were spoiled by MJ because he was ahead of his time. KB and Labron remind us of that time. My Choice is Kobe However. LJ is good but he aint no Kobe Bryant. his team is def suspect but remember so were the bulls before MJ. Give him time, he is the second coming.

By Doug

April 19, 2006 08:23 PM | Link to this

There are a lot of close contenders for MVP this year, without a doubt. However Steve Nash is still the clear winner! There is no other player that can impact every other player on his team and make them play better, like Nash does. The MVP is the most valuable player, and no other player generates the kind of total points that Nash does. He has a kind of magic that is unique to only him. The Suns have a great list of players, but take Nash away from them and they would have been very ordinary players this year. You combine his points, his assists and then add in the motivation and leadership that influences so many other points from his team.

By zoom

April 19, 2006 09:48 PM | Link to this

close but kobe is this yr’s mvp. the black momba, an assassin, a better player on defense and virtually unstoppable on offense. he had his way with the league. nash is a respectable third. incredible offensive force but an absolute liability on defense. cavs, lakers and suns each suck w/out them but cavs and suns would probably still make the playoffs.

a bit off topic but - kobe is no mj. after pippen, who did mj have who wasn’t a scrub? cartright? rodman? grant? second rate players. kobe’s team barely made the playoffs; mj’s teams were some of the best ever. kobe plays to win on a personal level; mj played to win ever game.

By PoliticalMan

April 20, 2006 08:48 AM | Link to this

Kobe is the best player in the NBA and given the lack of talent on the Lakers the most valuable. Kobe is still half a notch below MJ. He needs to shoot a higher percentage.

Lebron James is getting there. Nash is a nice player but is hardly in the category of a Kobe or Lebron.

By Bengrim

April 20, 2006 10:04 AM | Link to this

A lot of you and announcers says the MVP should come from the best team with the best player…a la Chauncy Billups this year, Steve Nash last year, Jordan for years, Tim Duncan twice…using this scenario. Ok what happened to Shaq during that 4-5 year period when he was clearly the best player on the best team. The MVP is clearly political and will be again this year.

By ferg

April 20, 2006 02:34 PM | Link to this

Gentleman,

I’m starting to lose my patience with you people, atlborn…if L.J is such a terrific defender why doesn’t he ever check the opponent’s best player? Kobe does…..Steve Nash has done Canada proud but he cannot cover anyone and he cannot close a game, tremendous distributor but little else. Kobe is the most hated negroe in the U.S he has embraced that title like Barry Bonds. He simply does not give a damn. Please stop sending these simple minded e-mails I have work to do.

By Sean

April 20, 2006 03:39 PM | Link to this

The Cavs are 3-0 without LeBron this year (47-32 with him). The Lakers are 0-2 without Kobe (47-33 with him). So who made the bigger difference to his team?

Also, who had the biggest historic imprint on the season. Forget the 81 point game, Kobe’s outscoring of the Mavs through 3 was the only time an individual has done this since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 (that’s when George Mikan was playing, people).

By Phong Le

April 20, 2006 03:42 PM | Link to this

Kobe is mvp! Kobe had a suffer time, he has no one good in his team… but now he is in playoffs. Those are something that other candidates don’t have, so Kobe is not only a most value player but he is also a most value person in life! He is not only a mirror for other players he is also a mirror for us to go to our goals…

By Sean

April 20, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this

Hey Dewan,

If LeBron is so good at involving his teammates, then why is the scoring average of every single player on the Cavs (except Flip Murray who has only played 28 games for ‘em) lower than last year?

Meanwhile, Kobe has 5 teammates averaging career highs in scoring. This doesn’t including Odom who is averaging by far a career high fg% and Kwame who has been averaging a career high 12.4 ppg and 8.6 rpg since he became the starting center 18 games ago.

So whose the ball hog again?

By smooth d

April 21, 2006 01:11 AM | Link to this

if any of you have been paying attention to this nba season then you would have to see hands down that kobe is the mvp hands down check this out i give the lakers 28-30 wins on the season minus kob with about fifty losses and thats being generous last time i checked shawn marion was an all-star and is very capable of doing what artest is doing in sac-to so there goes nash as your mvp mike brown implemented san antonios scheme so in lebrons absence and also being in the east i think that and drew gooden could easily lead the cavs to 40 wins which would more than likely put them in the playoffs in the east and chauncy billups is surrounded by talent he there is a reason he played for 4 different teams before he won a championship u cant place it all in phils hand just look at the knicks im sure they thougt their hall of fame coach would have them playoff bound but they and he are the laughing stocks of the nba if nash deseves the mvp then john stockton should be very p** and if lebron wins then vince should also be mad b/c hes done similar down the stretch as lebron all he does is dunk he dribbles with his head down and he dribbles too high so there should be no arguement when it comes to who should get the mvp

By David

April 21, 2006 03:57 PM | Link to this

LaBron James is the greatest talent to ever play in the association. He is better than Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, George “Ice-Man” Gervin, Kobe Bryant, and Julius Irving COMBINED!!!! LaBron will be passing the baton to no one because he is simply the greatest talent to lace a pair of gym shoes on the basketball court PERIOD! LaBron, I suspect, will break Wilt Chamberlain’s scoring record of 50 points per game AND his single game scoring record of 100 points in a game probably by the end of next season!!. LaBron will take down both of those records easily. However, this year, Kobe is just a little bit better. After Kobe gets his MVP trophie this year, look for LaBron to win the next 10 (that’s right I said it) 10 MVP trophies in a row! Remember, he is only 20 years old and I suspect he’ll be the best player in the league for at least the next 10 years. After the dust has settled for LaBron, and the sun has finally set on his career, we all will remember LaBron as being the greatest player of all time—- and most will have forgotten Michael Jordan and the others. LaBron is simply that good. I saw him live at Phillips arena in his rookie season, and I’m still stunned by what I saw him do on the court. I’ve never seen ANYONE make the moves that LaBron did, and he did it so effortlessly, which completely blew my mind!!

By ferg

April 21, 2006 06:26 PM | Link to this

David, I really try not to insult anyone but for you to say Lebron is better than any player in history Wilt, M.J, Majic, Bird is just plain looney. Lebron has not played a single playoff game, won a title, MVP, or scoring title. That’s like saying Adu is better than Pele, Gates is better than Winslow Sr, Steve Smith is better than Rice, Brady is better than Joe…..Can we atleast give Lebron 10 years.