Race To MVP: Why Kobe is not #1

Kobe Bryant is last years MVP (Finally!) and if he wants to retain his MVP Award this season. 1 of 2 things has to happen. Lebron James and the Cleveland Caveliers has to start losing or Kobe Bryant has to put up better numbers. I think the Cavs is going to start losing and Kobe will retain his MVP Awards.

1. LeBron James, Cavaliers

2. Kobe Bryant, Lakers

3. Amare Stoudemire, Suns

4. Dwight Howard, Magic

5. Chris Paul, Hornets

6. Paul Pierce, Celtics

7. Dwyane Wade, Heat

8. Chris Bosh, Raptors

9. Joe Johnson, Hawks

10. C. Billups, Nuggets

Kareem preaches patience to Andrew Bynum

Young center wants to be more assertive, but Hall of Famer says opportunities will come.

The NBA's all-time leading scorer has one word for Andrew Bynum -- patience. Bynum has struggled with his shot and recently said he wanted to be more assertive once he got the basketball in the post. To paraphrase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it will happen in time. "The offense is designed to spread it around, but if you're getting high-percentage shots in the post, they're of great value to a team," said Abdul-Jabbar, in his fourth season as a Lakers' special assistant coach in charge of Bynum's development.

"It's a situation where he has to prove that he can deliver and then maybe the offense can look for him more than it is right now. He just has to be patient." After getting outscored and outrebounded by Detroit center Kwame Brown, Bynum lamented that he hadn't scored enough in the low post this season, feeding instead off screen-and-rolls, lob passes and offensive rebounds. Bynum, who signed a four-year, $57.4-million contract extension last month, was averaging 9.9 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 45.5% before Tuesday's game against...read full article

Pau Gasol scores 34 points to lead Lakers

Lakers get back to winning. Top pick Derrick Rose has 25 points for the Bulls.

Memo to the Eastern Conference: One in a row.

OK, so The Lakers didn't beat Boston, Detroit or even Cleveland, but they jumped all over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday, 116-109, a welcome sight for them after all their issues with the Pistons last Friday. Pau Gasol had 34 points, Kobe Bryant had 21 and the Lakers returned to the winning side after a long weekend of "What happened?" queries.

Chicago is a middle-of-the-road team from the East, lucky to even to be called a Boston Lite or Mini-Detroit, but the Bulls play with enough punch to earn a "gritty" tag from Bryant the day before the game.

It wasn't quite enough to push away the memory of an 11-point home loss to Detroit, but the Lakers will...read full article