NBA Nba Awards

Kobe Bryant is on top of the world, enjoying one of his best years ever as an NBA player after his impressive haul of hardware -- the NBA championship, Finals MVP, co-MVP of this year's All-Star Game. And don't forget about the Olympic gold medal from last summer.

So how does he top it all off? By starting a new charity in China. In this FanHouse exclusive we catch up with Kobe at an awards ceremony as he was being honored by the Asia Society Southern California. We also hear from T-Mac and Tim Leiweke, the CEO of AEG, who was also honored on this night.

Check out the video after the jump.

Kobe Bryant was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, and being the best player on the team that just won the championship, it's tough to disagree. It was Kobe's first time winning the award, because it went to Shaquille O'Neal the first three times that the Lakers won the title with Bryant on the roster.

Bryant averaged better than 32 points, five rebounds, and seven assists for the series, so again, his numbers validate the fact that he's taking home the award. But this was truly a team effort, and there are others that are arguably just as deserving.

Earlier this morning, Nate Jones explained how winning the MVP is no longer the indicator of playoff success that it used to be. Apparently, neither is finishing with a boat-load of regular season wins.

As The Painted Area notes, until the 2004-05 season, there were 13 teams in NBA history that won at least 64 games; 10 of those went on to win the title, and two of the teams that fell short lost to teams with even more regular season wins. In the four years since, five teams have won at least 64 wins, and depending on how the Lakers finish their season, only last year's Celtics sealed the deal. Check out The Painted Area for a deeper look at the league's recent parity.

There have been many debates over the MVP award over the last few years -- from Kobe v. LeBron to the merits of Steve Nash's back-to-back awards. You can debate all you want about who should have won each year's MVP, but it is clear that a particular season's MVP is no longer likely to have playoff success.

With LeBron James' elimination at the hands of the Orlando Magic, this season marks the eighth time this decade that the MVP hasn't won the championship, and the sixth time that the MVP hasn't even made it to the NBA Finals. Compare those numbers to the 1990s, when the winner of the MVP award made the NBA Finals seven times and the won the championship five times.

As you may have heard by now, the Lakers have earned themselves a trip back to the Finals by eliminating the Denver Nuggets to become the Western Conference Champions. And with this great honor comes a great prize: the aptly named Western Conference Champions ... trophy.

Yeah, it's a bit awkward. But not as awkward as the presentation of the award itself, which took place somewhere in the bowels of the Pepsi Center in front of no one but Doris Burke, James Worthy, and an ESPN camera crew. Let's watch together, shall we?

All NBA awards are completely subjective and usually debatable. None registers moreso (on both counts) than the Most Improved Player award. There are a million arbitrary, unwritten rules about who can be eligible for consideration. Some voters reject all All-Stars, others think second- or third-year players shouldn't be valid. It's a mess, really.

But this season had some great candidates we can all agree on. Chief among them were Danny Granger and Devin Harris. Today, Granger was announced as the victor, beating out Harris by just a handful of votes.

A sincere "job well done" by my colleagues, by the way.

They made the absolute right and the absolute best decision-- and in the convincing way that it should have been made -- honoring Cleveland's LeBron James as the NBA's MVP this season.

James totaled 109 of a possible 121 votes by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters in the U.S. and Canada, winning easily over the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. I didn't have a vote because I am no longer a traveling beat writer. But I would have voted for James.

Not since Michael Jordan in Chicago has any team won an NBA title relying so heavily on one individual player.

That might be the next trick for LeBron James.

By winning the Most Valuable Player Award on Thursday, James cemented his status as the best basketball player in the world today. If he wants to reach the real rarified air where the best in history reside, there are other things he must accomplish now.

LeBron James was named the NBA MVP Monday afternoon. This is, of course, not a tremendous shock.

The biggest surprise in Rookie of the Year balloting wasn't (sniveling) Kevin Love's low placement (sixth) -- it was Suns rook Robin Lopez earning a second-place vote.

Robin's season in Phoenix wasn't too bright. He played in only 60 games despite flawless health; in those contests, he averaged only 10 minutes a game. His campaign ended with per-game averages of three points and two rebounds. Not exactly awards material ...

... which means that in all likelihood one of the voters -- a fraternity of writers and broadcasters -- meant to vote for Robin's twin, Brook, who ended up in third place in balloting. As far as I know, the ballot isn't a "fill in the bubble" affair -- you write in the names. Some voter really can't keep the Lopez brothers straight. (Hat-tip to Phoenix Stan.)