Foreword
As the second best scoring guard in NBA history after Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant has dedicated a wonderful 20-year career to fans around the world, even if he died in an accident, but his legendary story still inspires countless young people to actively participate in basketball, and he is definitely an indelible symbol of the times in the basketball world. It's a pity that one of the greatest players in the NBA only won 1 regular season MVP in his entire career, and in the eyes of many fans, this MVP was "snatched" by Kobe Bryant from the young Chris Paul. Let's go back to 15 years ago, back to that crazy 07-08 season, and see if Kobe Bryant deserves that MVP trophy more today!
First of all, let's start with the most direct comparison, that is, the data of the two, the 29-year-old Kobe Bryant played 82 games that season, averaging 283 points, 63 rebounds, 54 assists and 18 steals, 45 shooting from the field and three-point range9% and 361%, even in today's era of data blowouts, this data sheet is still in the top five levels of the league, not to mention the era when the pace is slower and teams focus on defense.
And what's even more amazing is that Kobe Bryant at that time was even suspected of "regression", after all, in the 05-06 season, he averaged an astonishing 35 per game4 points, completely depending on the score as a probe. In addition, Kobe Bryant at that time was quite versatile, in addition to the contribution on the offensive end, he also led by example on the defensive end, often acting as the team's arrow figure in the game, leading the opponent's outside core, so in the 07-08 season, Kobe Bryant was also selected for the best first team, the best first defensive team and the All-Star team without any accidents, as well as two Western Player of the Month.
On Chris Paul's side, at the age of 23, he is also a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and he has only entered the NBA in his third season, playing in 80 games, averaging 21 per game1 point, 4 rebounds, 116 assists, 2Seven steals, shooting 48 from the field and three-point range8% and 369%, this data doesn't seem to be so ** today, but we just mentioned that the pace of that era was relatively slow, and the teams paid great attention to positional warfare and defensive systems, plus the NBA's assist statistics have not been released as now, so Paul's data is also valuable, at that time he was the first player who could play this kind of data after "Magic" Johnson, and the offensive and defensive ends were also grasped with one hand, and Paul that season was also elected as the assist king, The steal king was also selected to the All-NBA First Team, All-NBA Team, All-Star Team, and also won two Western Conference Player of the Month awards. In contrast, the personal data of the two superstars can be said to be evenly divided, and each has its own advantages.
After talking about personal performance, let's take a look at the performance of the teams that the two play for, first of all, Kobe's Lakers, coinciding with the 07-08 season is a rare "wild season" in the West for 50 years, and the Warriors, who are ninth in the West, have a staggering 48 wins, which can even rank fourth in the East, but in the West they can't even enter the playoffs, and it is in this situation that the Lakers sweep "OK" The decline of the times, a strong 57-25 record, returned to the first place in the West after many years, compared to the 06-07 season Lakers also won 15 more games, and this season with the help of Kobe, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets, Jazz and the defending champion Spurs, returned to the Finals stage after a 4-year absence, but unfortunately failed to defeat the archrival Celtics, but Kobe Bryant averaged 30 per game throughout the playoffs1 point, 57 rebounds, 56 assists and 1The outstanding performance of 7 steals is enough to win everyone's respect, especially in the face of the old rival Spurs, Kobe Bryant defeated the opponent with one mid-range shot, worthy of the title of "Spurs nemesis".
The Hornets have a slight disadvantage over the Lakers, but they also have a 56-26 record in the West, and they have won 17 more games than last season. However, one is first in the West and the other is second in the West, even if it is only a win difference, but Kobe Bryant is still slightly advantageous. In the playoffs, Paul's performance has indeed improved compared to the regular season, averaging 24 per game1 point, 49 rebounds, 113 assists and 23 steals, but also in the face of the Spurs, they were 2:0 ahead of the big score, but in the end they were reversed by the Spurs, unfortunately lost the tie-break, although the regular season MVP selection does not involve playoff performance, but in comparison, Kobe Bryant is indeed more worthy of MVP.
Finally, let's talk about the most important factor, which is the direct confrontation between the two, the Lakers and Hornets played a total of 4 games that season, with a 2-2 record each, but the performance of the two is quite different. In the first meeting, the Hornets won the game by 14 points, and against the aging Fisher, Paul also played a big double-double of 19 points, 21 assists and three steals, but Bryant also scored 28 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. In the second meeting, the Lakers swept away the previous decline and turned the game into garbage time early, Kobe Bryant also clocked in almost three quarters, scoring 19 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals, and Paul was powerless in the face of loss despite scoring 32 points. In the third matchup, Paul once again played 27 points, 4 rebounds, 17 assists and 4 steals, and Kobe Bryant also sacrificed 36 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and fought until six fouls left the court before losing.
The time came on April 11, 2008, and there were only 4 games until the end of the season, and the Lakers were still one win away from the Hornets, so this game was not only about the first place in the West, but also about the final ownership of the MVP. Despite another 17 assists, Paul struggled offensively, scoring just 15 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Bryant's side once again shined on the court, scoring 29 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in a "quasi-triple-double", and finally helped the Lakers narrow victory over their opponents by 3 points, not only taking back the first place in the West, but also ending the suspense of MVP. Bryant finished that season with 6508% preferred rate and 33With 73% of the votes, he won the only MVP trophy in his career.