Oh, as for the MVP/best player debate, I've always felt there should be two different awards. I think it's rare that the best player is also the most valuable to his team. I think picking player of the year is a lot easier than picking MVP though. As valuable as Kobe is to the Lakers, is he more important than AI to Philly? Or Carmelo to Denver? Chris Paul to NO? Pierce to Boston? KG to Minnesota? LeBron to Cleveland? Duncan to SA? It's extremely hard.
I think that Kobe is the best one on one player in the league. He can get anywhere on the court and get any shot he wants to. But I think he's far from the most efficient of scorers. He scores the most points but he should. He shoots more than anyone else by far. Look at him compared to James. Kobe shot 350 more times than LeBron. Four more shots a game than LeBron. He shot 139 more 3pt shots than LeBron. Yet his scoring average was only four points more. It's not hard to see how LeBron could have easily scored as much or more per game than Bryant. Kobe averaged 2.4 more ppg than Iverson. That's one basket more per game. It's easy to see how Iverson could take a couple more shots, especially more 3's and get up there where Bryant is. Kobe is just a different kind of scorer. He gets hot and can do anything. And he's more spectacular. But he's not better. And when it comes to adding in rebounding and assists, LeBron is way ahead of Kobe. So if I had a vote for best player, I'd go with LeBron now.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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