The stats are obvious and widely available, but the opportunity to watch Lakers games on TV is quite rare for those that don’t live in the Los Angeles area. During every game, at some point, the crowd will chant “M-V-P… M-V-P”. It really doesn’t matter what city the Lakers play in, Kobe is loved and hated equally. Even in Phoenix the other night for Shaq’s debut there were fans in the front row going crazy every time Kobe hit a big jumper, and yes, that happened often during that game.

If we look strictly at the numbers, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James both have a great chance to win the MVP title this year. It seems like thus far into the season, everyone is handing over the vote to Lebron James though. Why? What does Lebron do that Kobe doesn’t? I think that after you all realize that Lebron doesn’t do anything that Kobe doesn’t do, you should try and ask what does Kobe does that Lebron doesn’t? I’m sure we can all come up with a few qualities that Kobe has over Lebron.

But lets take a quick look at the stats:

Kobe has been the leading scorer in 28 of the 38 wins. He has been the leader in assists in 36 games this season and in Lakers wins, if he was not the leading scorer, he was the leader in assists in all but two of the games.

Kobe is averaging:

• 37.9 minutes
• 27.8 points
• 6.0 rebounds
• 5.3 assists
• 1.95 steals
• .52 blocks
• 46.3% f/g
• 35.3% 3 f/g
• 84.5% free throw

Lebron James has been the leading scorer of the NBA and of his team this season. He has led his team in scoring in 28 of the teams 32 wins. He has been the leader in assists in 47 games. In team wins that Lebron is not the leading scorer, he has been the leader in assists in 3 of the 4 games.

Lebron’s season averages are as follows:

• 40.6 minutes
• 30.1 points
• 8.2 rebounds
• 7.5 assists
• 2.06 steals
• 1.06 blocks
• 48.6% f/g
• 31.0% 3 f/g
• 70.8% free throw

When you first look at these stats, you may think, “hey, Lebron is averaging more points, more rebounds, more assists, more steals, and more blocks.” The effect that Kobe has on his team is not that of Lebron James, not simply being the man to carry his team to wins, but instead being the man to lead his team to wins. Stats aren’t all that important for one player; obviously, as you look at Jason Kidd that is 2 rebounds short of averaging a triple double. Why isn’t Kidd in the MVP talk? Well, it’s simple, because his team isn’t good enough. But where does the line as to how many wins it takes for a team to matter come in to play? Is a record of 32-24 enough? Is there any comparison between Lebron’s team that has 32 wins and Kobe’s team sitting 22 games over .500 with a 39-17 record.

Both players are obviously vital to the success of their respective teams but the placement of the team, the conference, is a very important factor to be calculated. In the Western Conference, there are 9 teams on pace to win 50+ games while in the Eastern conference there are only 5 teams above .500.  Lebron’s Cavs have only won 11 games against teams above .500 while Kobe’s Lakers have achieved 15 of their 39 wins against teams over .500. The Cavs have lost 9 of their 24 to teams under .500 and the Lakers have lost only 3 of their 17 to teams undeserving of the victory. This is enough fact for me to show that Kobe has had to struggle far more to get his wins against good teams as opposed to Lebron, who can’t even carry his team to a superior record in a conference with only 4 teams to compete with.

The MVP race continues until the end of the season and the remaining 26 games will tell a lot. The Cleveland Cavaliers have only 9 of their games against teams over .500 and the Lakers have a tougher schedule with 15 of their remaining games coming against real competition. There is a simple way to decide the winner of this MVP race. If the Lakers win more of their remaining games than the Cavaliers, than it’s quite obvious who deserves the NBA MVP award. If the Cavs manage to put up a great record to close out the season, then I suppose we can debate the MVP, but until Lebron proves that he can lead his team throughout the season, lets just put the talk aside and watch Kobe dominate the Western Conference.