Posted by BasketballJones:

The real problem here is that there are no official criteria for the MVP award. That being the case, we can argue this forever.

If the award should go to the best invididual talent, and the guy who willed his team to win, and willed them into the playoffs, then give the award to Kobe.

If the award should go to the guy who makes his teammates better, give it to Nash. This isn't to say that Kobe doesn't also make his teammates better - I just think that Nash does it to a greater degree.

Great points alla round.
MVP to me would be:
Player who does the most to make his team win.
Player whose team would do worst without him.
Player who does the most with the weakest supporting cast.

There's a difference. Kobe's selfishness detracted in the win columns. Of the guys who took over games and were MVP candidates in the past, those guys were on teams where that player's influence was a direct factor in them winning so many games.

Kobe's team still sucked and you're not going to get the MVP on a team that won so few games. Sorry, just not going to happen.

Btw, my vote for MVP was Dirk, not Nash, but Nash is a very close second.