MVP Talks: The MVP Debate or Non-debate

            This season unlike the last few seasons doesn't seem to have any who just stands out as the leaders.  It seems that its the other way around where those normally in MVP talks have taken themselves out.  Take for example last year's reigning MVP LeBron James; while his numbers have been consistent and MVP-caliber, his Cavs are playing very rocky basketball.  Looking like title contenders at times and like playoff contenders at other times.

            Steve Nash, whose Suns started the season on a tear with a 14-3 record but have since cooled off considerably to a 18-11 record, was definitely leading MVP talks but has fallen out since the Suns struggles.  Whether the Suns are really as good as they played in the beginning of the season or were simply playing out of their minds, remains to be seen.  Nash's numbers have been good throughout, but, if the Suns don’t recapture their ball of fire then Nash wouldn’t even qualify.

            Another leader of MVP talks is NBA leading scorer Carmelo Anthony who already has 17 games of 30 plus in addition to posting solid numbers in rebounds and assists.  But his demise came when Billups got a groin injury.  With Billups out of the lineup and in addition to the one game he came back and played only twenty minutes the Nuggets posted a 3-6 record.  With Billups out Melo improved upon his scoring and other numbers but his team posted a losing record.  This leads one to question how Melo can be MVP without being the MVP of his own team.  This

            Now this leaves Kobe Bryant, his numbers have definitely been MVP-caliber like the others.  But what separates him from the rest is the fact that when the Lakers started the first 19 games without Gasol he led the Lakers to a 16-3 record.  He picked up his numbers all around especially in points and became a monster in the post, leading the league in points in the paint at 14 pts per game.  And since Gasol has come back the Lakers for the most part have been rolling.

So here is my the MVP ranking mid-way through the season.

1. Kobe Bryant
2. LeBron James
3. Steve Nash
4. Carmelo Anthony
5. Joe Johnson

Guru