Allow me to warn you ahead of time, prior to you reading this article, that this award is not 100% official, but just received from a strong source from NBA.com.

The 2007-2008 regular season has come to a close and the performances of every player have been closely analyzed and scrutinized by every coach, player, analyst, and fan in the world. The Most Valuable Player Award is one of the most sought after prizes in basketball, behind the NBA Championship of course, and is one thing that has been missing from Kobe Bryant’s resume.

No longer, the NBA has published the 2008 awards (see below for disclaimer) and Kobe Bryant is listed as the NBA Most Valuable Player. After an amazing season in which the MVP flipped between four candidates at any given time, including Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, Chris Paul, and Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar was able to claim the prize.

Take a look at the actual screen shot courtesy of the SportsTsar.

With season averages of 28.3 points, 5.4 assists, 6.3 rebounds, 1.84 steals, and shooting percentages of 45.9% from the field, 36.1% from beyond the arc, and 84% from the free throw line, Kobe Bryant has proven that he is pretty well rounded. Kobe’s stats are obviously not what secured the MVP award for him though as his past season had better statistics.

Kobe Bryant has been criticized for years, since the infamous Shaq trade in 2004, that he isn’t much of a team player and doesn’t make his teammates better. I suppose that theory is finally over as he has taken one of the youngest teams in the league to the Western Conference’s top seed going into the playoffs.

It has been amazing to watch his game develop this season as he has finally grown into the mature role of being a floor general. I have to believe that a lot of credit is due to Phil Jackson for bringing it out in him as well as Derek Fisher for coming back and being a co-captain to Bryant.

As the Lakers make their run in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Kobe Bryant can sleep a bit more comfortable at night knowing that his hard work has finally been recognized by everyone that matters!

Congratulations and good luck in the playoffs!

Disclaimer: Of course, allow me to mention really quickly, that this would be quite incredible if it was 100% reliable. This is the award as presented by Robert Peterson, the Director of NBA.com and the Senior Manger of NBA.com. I’ve got to find this quite reliable, but I suppose we will have to wait a little while longer until the Commish presents it.