Kobe for MVP: Why Not?

Now, before everyone has a heart attack, I realize either Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony or Lebron James will win the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award, but why not Kobe Bryant?

Who has meant more to his team than Kobe?

And we're just talking about this season, not all-time.

Let's breakdown the candidates. Would the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder still be in the playoffs without King James or Durant? My answer would be yes.

Both teams have quality players in Dwayne Wade and Russell Westbrook to take up the slack if James or Durant ever got hurt. So, they are out.

That leaves Anthony and Bryant. Both are valuable to their teams, but Kobe gets my vote because of the season his team is having.

The Mamba has had to carry his team through injuries, including his own, and bad coaching. Where would the Lakers be without Kobe Bryant? His leadership alone is worth a victory or two, can you say that about Carmelo?

This year, the Lakers were supposed to be the team to challenge the Heat because of the new additions of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash. However,to this point, it's been a bust mainly because of injuries.

Howard has had back problems all season long and is just now getting to the stage where he is playing like the Dwight Howard of old, but you can still tell he frequently has issues.

Same with Nash. When healthy, Nash is like the old Steve Nash, but he's been injured often this season, too. This leads us back to Kobe.

Bryant is playing on two bad knees, but at times this season, the 34 year-old played like he was 19 again. A perfect example was Tuesday night's game against the New Orleans Hornets.

The Lakers were left for dead, but Kobe put on his own Superman cape -- one that's never been used for circus sideshows like dunk contests -- and scored 23 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to save the Lakers. Again.

Kobe has done that a lot this season for his team. If it wasn't for his heroics, the Lakers wouldn't have a chance in hell to even sniff at the playoffs, but because of him, the Lakers will probably make the playoffs.

And with his will and determination, who knows what could happen then?