Foreword:
The MVP battle after the end of each season has always been the focus of fans and the media. Everyone hopes that players who are expected to return to get the final awards, but nothing can be done to everyone's satisfaction. Naturally, it is impossible for the selection of MVP to take care of everyone's emotions, which leads to the results of MVP selection in many cases. Suffering from everyone's doubts, the selected players are therefore controversial.
2008 MVP winner Kobe encountered such a treatment. At that time, many people believed that the MVP trophy of that year should belong to Paul . As a result, various conspiracy theories were flying all over the sky at that time, and many people believed that this was a black box operation conducted by the alliance, and for a while, the remarks of Paul's victims were rampant.
Now that this past event has gradually been forgotten over time, is the MVP that Paul lost that year really a plot arranged by the league? Now let me take you back to that season to take a look at the real season performance, then the answer will be clear at a glance.
Season background: The Green Army has formed the Big Three, and the West is full of power
2007-08 season offseason there was a big deal that shocked the league at that time, the Celtics through operation The three giants of Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen were formed. The three were absolute core players in their respective teams at the time, and each of them had the power to end the game. , And the distribution of the positions of the Big Three is very reasonable, which makes the Celtics directly become the strongest contender for the championship that season.
The overall strength of the West is not much better. Many teams have a very complete lineup, once again a perfect interpretation of what is meant by no underdogs in the West. It is against this background,After the season started, Paul and Kobe led their teams on their journey, and a battle for MVP began.
lineup comparison: the Hornets are significantly better than the Lakers
The Hornets lineup that season is a super-high configuration in the entire league, with the exception of Paul. West, Chandler, Wells and other players are all in their playing years. It can be said that Paul is surrounded by a group of powerful helpers, so after the start of the season, the Hornets The team quickly became a rising star in the West. After several seasons of silence, they finally ushered in an explosion in the 07-08 season.
In contrast, the Lakers lineup led by Kobe is not enough. Although they introduced the powerful Gasol in the middle of the season, Gasol only played less than 30 games for the Lakers that season, and the overall running-in aspect has not reached the best condition, so most Time is Kobe alone carrying the banner of the team's offense.
Therefore, starting from the lineup, Kobe's lone fight is naturally much more difficult than Paul's group of bees. This round of comparison Kobe won .
Record comparison: The Lakers dominated the Hornets by one game
All Western teams have their own talents throughout the season, and the teams that finally entered the playoffs have maintained a record of more than 50 wins. The difference in winning between the first and eighth place is only 7 games, and the cruelty of the competition is evident. In the first group, the Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, and Jazz became the leading four teams.
Since the beginning of the season, they have continued to consolidate their position in the rankings.The Jazz are advancing under the leadership of Deron and Boozer, while the Spurs are a troika at every step. Under such fierce competition, Kobe still led the Lakers and always suppressed their opponents. At the end of the regular season, the Lakers ranked first in the Western Conference with a record of 57 wins and 25 losses, and the Hornets were 56 wins and 26 losses. Following closely behind, the Lakers won by a very narrow advantage.
Data comparison: Kobe has a sharp offense and Paul assists like hemp
Let’s take a look at the most critical data comparison. Kobe still needs to be a lone hero for most of the season, more often. Only one opponent to five, so the ability in scoring is once again demonstrated very prominent. He averaged 's 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. He is second only to James in scoring and second in the league in scoring.
With the help of many good teammates around Paul, the overall pressure on the offensive end is not great. He has been piercing the needle more often. That season, his averaging data was 21.1 points, 11.6 assists, and 4.0 rebounds.
The two can be said to have their own strengths in terms of data. Kobe can use his excellent offensive ability to complete the end of the game. Paul used more skillful assists to drive the team's offense.
Conclusion:
From the above comparison, it is not difficult to find that the team record and personal data are Kobe slightly better. In addition, Kobe remained alone for most of the season, but he was still able to complete a breakout surrounded by strong teams and helped the Lakers get the first position in the Western Conference, which shows that Kobe is strong.
Therefore, the so-called Paul MVP being hacked is nothing but an illusion. Kobe won the MVP trophy entirely by virtue of his own strength.It is worth mentioning that this is also the only time Kobe has won this award in his career.
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