Quote from KymarFye:
Dude, you read too much into post-game interviews. He had just personally disposed of Minnesota - obviously, with a lot of help, but from the big DUNK to the 2nd half streaks he put up, it was clear that there was no one else on either team who was on like he was. As Dominique pointed out on TNT, once you saw Kobe getting hot, you knew Minnesota didn't have a chance (I would have said much of a chance, but I'm more conservative). What Kobe said about "putting the ball in the hole anytime he wanted to" was just a bit of euphoria after having re-gained his confidence, coming off his shoulder injury. If he hadn't actually just "put the ball in the hole anytime he wanted to" over and over again, he would have said something less exuberant.
MJ still is clearly the cosmos-sovereign, but Kobe is the major game-turner out there right now - the closest thing the league has to a guy (like MJ, Bird, Magic, Hakeem, and not many others were) who can will his team to win, and make everyone else look like they might as well take a seat.
When he plays a full season without Shaq Daddy, we will see how strong his will really is.
I am still of the belief that without Shaq to protect him, like the thugs in hockery protect superstars, that Kobe would get hacked to death driving down the lane, and his body is fragile.
By my reading, Kobe finished a distant third in the minds of the voters....
2002-03 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD VOTING RESULTS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th Pts
Tim Duncan, San Antonio 60 38 18 2 0 962
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota 43 49 17 3 4 871
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers 8 13 41 35 15 496
Tracy McGrady, Orlando 4 12 30 46 15 427
Shaquille O'Neal, L.A. Lakers 3 4 3 13 14 126
Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 0 2 3 9 27 83
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas 0 1 2 2 20 43
Ben Wallace, Detroit 1 0 2 2 7 33
Jason Kidd, New Jersey 0 0 2 3 12 31
Chris Webber, Sacramento 0 0 1 4 2 19
Jamal Mashburn, New Orleans 0 0 0 0 1 1
Steve Nash, Dallas 0 0 0 0 1 1
Paul Pierce, Boston 0 0 0 0 1 1
Along with his two MVP Awards, Duncan has also collected the 1997-98 Rookie of the Year, the 1999 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, the co-MVP of the 2000 NBA All-Star Game and the 2001-02 NBA IBM Award during his six-year pro career.
How many years has Kobe been in the league now?