Kobe Bryant juggles the NBA MVP trophy and his daughter Gianna on Tuesday. (Ric Francis/Associated Press)Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant received the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award on Tuesday.
Bryant, 29, is the fourth member of the Lakers named league MVP, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin (Magic) Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal.
"This is an award I could not have won on my own," said Bryant, who finished third in 2002-03 and 2006-07 in voting by beat writers and broadcasters.
"I cannot thank these guys [teammates] enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers."
"I do not know anybody who has ever deserved this trophy more, who has worked as hard to accomplish what he has accomplished," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson said.
Bryant averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 38.9 minutes in 82 starts this season, his 12th in the NBA.
He averaged a whopping 33.5 points as the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, and scored 38 points in Sunday's 109-98 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal.
"Everybody can reasonably say they were better this year because of what he did," Lakers guard Derek Fisher said. "He met the so-called criteria by elevating his teammates' games."
"It is Hollywood, it is a movie script," Bryant said. "The perfect ending would be for us to hold a championship trophy at the end of it."
Bryant has averaged 25.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals and 36.5 minutes in 866 appearances (718 starts) for the Lakers, who acquired him from the Charlotte Hornets in a trade for Vlade Divac on July 11, 1996.
Two weeks earlier, Charlotte drafted Bryant 13th overall out of high school.
"I didn't expect this award would come to me," he said. "I'm surprised.
"I have played pretty well in other seasons, but our team hasn't been as good. Things just fell into place."
Demanded to be traded
Winning his first-ever MVP award represents a return to happier times for Bryant who, roughly one year ago, stunned the basketball world by bluntly declaring his dissatisfaction with the Lakers and demanding to be traded.
Bryant said there was nothing the Lakers could do to dissuade him, despite having four years and $88.6 million US remaining on the seven-year, $136.4-million US contract inked July 15, 2004.
But he changed his mind the next day, and later met with Lakers owner Jerry Buss to discuss the frustration that prompted the trade request.
"He is deserving in this particular season, with all of the question marks and everything going on coming into the season, and the uncertainty," Fisher said.
"He is a much better teammate now than he was in the championship days," noted Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw, a former teammate. "That is a credit to his maturation.
"There were definitely times when he was not a good teammate. No one worked harder than he did and the same is true today.
"In terms of connecting with his teammates off the court, he didn't do that very much. Now from what I hear, he goes out to dinner with them all the time."
Bryant has won two NBA scoring titles and back-to-back-to-back league championships with Los Angeles between 2000 and 2002.
He once burned the Toronto Raptors for 81 points — second to Wilt Chamberlain's record of 100 points in a single game.
"Bryant is the best player in the league," Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James said. "He has been the best player the last five, six years.
"I'm glad he won it. His team had a great year, finishing first in the West."
With files from the Associated Press
