"However, didn't the Lakers get SIGNIFICANTLY better once Gasol joined the team? Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but my recollection is that they were a middle of the pack team in the West until the Gasol trade. Then they exploded! Seems to me that Gasol had as much...or more?...to do with their season success as Kobe."
Of course the Lakers exploded after picking up Gasol. They picked up an all-star at a need position for the two worst guys on their team plus draft picks. Let's not forget the Lakers were still in the middle of the pack in the West because Kobe kept the team afloat after Bynum went down and Kwame was put in the middle. Kwame Brown!
Just out of curiosity, what do you think would have happened to the Hornets if they picked up Kevin Martin for Rasual Butler, Ryan Bowen, and a couple draft picks? They would have exploded, right? It's a pointless exercise.
Should Paul be penalized since his team was relatively healthy this year? He had a level of continuity Kobe never had with his teammates. Bynum played 35 games, Gasol 27, Radmanovic 65, Ariza 25. That's some key players missing a significant chunk of time. How many significant injuries did Paul and the Hornets have to deal with? And let's not forget Kobe was advised to have surgery on his finger and played through it at an MVP level.
I won't even offer much rebuttal to the James argument because it's so far out there. LeBron James is a great player - incredible! But he was nowhere near the MVP. His team was 4th place in the mediocre East. They gave up more points than they scored. Being the best player on a below average team shouldn't get you consideration for the MVP.
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