Chris Paul, LeBron James and Kevin Garnet? Please. Many people thought one of these three superstars would win the 2007-08 NBA MVP award, but instead, the crown went to Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant.

The game’s greatest closer since Michael Jordan showed why he earned the NBA’s highest individual honor, when he scored 34 points with 12 coming in the fourth quarter as the Lakers eliminated the Utah Jazz from the play-offs.

'Bryant hit six straight free throws during the final three minutes of the game, helping protect LA’s slim lead'


Bryant drained nine of 19 shots and added eight rebounds and six assists for the Lakers, but his biggest asset was his deadly free throw shooting, hitting 15 of 17. 

Bryant hit six straight free throws during the final three minutes of the game, helping protect LA’s slim lead. Bryant, who averaged 28.3 points per game during the regular season, is the reason Los Angeles sit four wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals. 

During LA’s four-game sweep of the Denver Nuggets, No. 24 averaged 33.2 points per game and made half of his shots. During Conference semi-finals against the Utah Jazz, Bryant was just as dominant, averaging 33.2 points, seven rebounds and 7.2 assists, while getting to the line enough to attempt 96 free throws.

A distant third-place MVP finalist last season, Bryant showed why the formula of “choosing the best player on the team with the best record” method is irrelevant. This year’s best regular season team, the Boston Celtics, finished with nine more wins than LA, but have yet to play like the team to beat. 

Los Angeles have played dominant in the play-offs thus far, going 8-2 and are 6-0 at home since the play-offs began. The Lakers also became just the second team to pull off a win on the road in the Conference semis, where the home team have won a whooping 18 of 20.

Though the MVP award is a reward based on a player’s regular season performance, Kobe’s play-off performance only strengthens his achievement.  In 10 play-off games so far, LA’s star shooting guard has hit 49.5% of his shots, and that doesn’t include any of the 108 free throws he’s sunk.To put that in perspective, that’s six more free throw points than both Boston’s Kevin Garnet and New Orleans’ Chris Paul combined.

Bryant, who until this season was the two-time defending scoring champ, averaged 31.8 points per game over the past three seasons and sits just behind Larry Bird at 24th on the All-time NBA points list. If he continues at his current pace, Bryant will likely catch Clyde Drexler next season. 

The road to the 2008 NBA Finals continues, and in the West, this much is clear: Defending champion San Antonio have a daunting task in eliminating the Lakers, led by their MVP. The only consolation is that the Spurs have their work cut out for them; find a way to slow down No. 24. Easier said than done!