Lakers' Bryant on brink of being named MVP

LOS ANGELES: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is widely expected to receive the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for the first time after the NBA scheduled a news conference for Tuesday at a Los Angeles hotel.

Two days ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that Bryant would receive the trophy from commissioner David Stern, citing anonymous sources familiar with the result of the media vote.

Although NBA spokesman Mark Broussard was not prepared to disclose details, he said the news conference would feature an award announcement and a presentation.

Asked what the award would mean to him, Bryant told reporters on Saturday: "It's a great honor. I'm very thankful for it.

"I didn't know if it was going to come or it was going to happen in my career. But to have that moment come now is special, especially to share it with the group of guys we have here, it's nice.

"We talked about (how) winning this MVP is extremely special because that means I'm doing good. I'm making my team mates better, putting them in a position to win."

The prestigious award would mark Bryant's first MVP trophy after 12 seasons.

Long regarded as one of the league's top players, the all-star guard led the Lakers to the number one spot in the Western Conference, averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.84 steals during the regular season.

He went on to average 33.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists in leading the Lakers to a first-round sweep of the Denver Nuggets and top-scored with 38 points in Sunday's 109-98 win over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the conference semifinals.

Bryant, who helped the Lakers win three consecutive championships between 2000 and 2002, has relished playing this season in a stronger team, which is pushing for its first NBA finals appearance in four years.

"We have a lot of players that can step in at any given moment and make contributions," he said last week.

The closest Bryant had come to the MVP award was third place after the 2002-03 season and again last year.

He would be the fourth Laker to win the award, following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/07/2008 page22)