Kobe Bryant scored 52 points last weekend against the Dallas Mavericks and led his team to victory.

Lebron James scored 50 points last night against the New York Knicks and led his team to victory.

Whats the difference? Well, just remember, you asked, not me…

Lets start off with giving Lebron his props. He scored 50 points in only 44 minutes! Congrats Lebron. It took Kobe 51 minutes to get his 52 points. You beat him, in points/minutes!

Kobe Bryant scored 52 points on 27 shots, 2/3 three pointers, shooting 55.5% overall from the field. Lebron James put up 50 with 30 shots, 7/13 three pointers, shooting 53.3% overall. The free throw comparison goes in Kobe’s favor as well. Kobe shot 27 free throws, making 20, 17 in a row to finish the game. Even with Kobe starting the game off shooting 3/10 from the free throw line, he makes up for it and out shoots Lebron by 6% from the line. Lebron finished shooting 11/16 from the line, but I’ve gotta admit, I’m not that astonished by this, he’s a career 70% free throw shooter. Let’s just say he’s no Kobe at the line who has average 84.4% over a 10 year career.

Lebron did put up a great box score overall with 10 assists and 8 rebounds but why is a 6′8″ high flyer like Lebron not getting more rebounds? Why is Kobe getting 11 rebounds against Dallas while Lebron can only get 8. It may seem like thats not all that big of a deal, three more rebounds, but there is a big difference between the position that these two players have and their responsibilities on the court. Lebron, as a forward, is suppose to rebound, Kobe, as a guard, is suppose to control the ball and set the plays. In regards to the idea of Lebron having more assists than Kobe, okay, thats fine, he deserves credit for dishing out 10 assists, but lets not forget that the most important point is yet to be made of this argument:

Dallas Mavericks vs New York Knicks

Kobe’s Lakers beat a legitimate team, Lebron’s Cavs, well, lets just say that they succeeded in beating a team that has dug itself so deep into a hole that they don’t have a single fan left. The Mavs are quite competitive in the Western Conference, and although everyone has been talking about how they are slipping and no longer title contenders, lets not forget that they are 4 games ahead of Lebron’s beloved Cavaliers. The competition makes a huge difference in determining which players truly deserves the credit for creating something big for their team.

If the MVP award were all about stats, then we know Kobe would’ve owned a few trophies by now, so lets concentrate on the one factor that was said to be the reason why Kobe is still “MVP-less”. Everyone had a similar thought, Kobe doesn’t make his teammates better. Well now that Bynum is a top 5 center in the NBA, Jordan is a greatly improved point guard, Sasha Vujacic is no longer an “11:00 AM player” and Ronny Turiaf has developed into a well rounded player, the argument is over. Have we already forgot that Lebron’s management staff had to completely repair the roster at the trade deadline because Lebron couldn’t accomplish anything with Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes?

And I almost forgot to dispute the main point that every NBA analyst has been talking about today, Lebron got a standing ovation at Madison Square Garden last night. Pa pa pa pleazzz… Kobe got MVP chants in Sacramento!! Yes, in Sacramento, home of the cowbells and Laker haters.

I hope that this is my last Kobe for MVP article, but if I really have to, I shall sit down in this chair again and gather my thoughts about why Lebron simply doesn’t deserve to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Kobe Bean Bryant.