NBA MVP: 5 Reasons why Kobe's 2007-08 MVP was fully deserved

#2 It was arguably Kobe's best all-round season

Portland Trail Blazers v Los Angeles Lakers

There is a lot of revisionist history, and pre-injury, pre-trade Chris Paul being the darling of the league alongside LeBron has changed much of the narrative surrounding Kobe's 2007-08 season. Advanced stat gizmos who barely watched a minute of action from those Laker games have tried to poke holes into what has become one of the most criticized MVP campaigns in recent times.

Those who did watch the action through the year were, however, left in no doubt about Kobe's value to the Lakers being above and beyond every player's in the league. Truth be told, if we go strictly by the meaning of the words 'Most Valuable Player', then Kobe was hands down the MVP of the league from 2004 to 2010 - but sportswriters love to look out for narratives and reward players who provided new things to talk about.

Even so, Kobe's 82 first place votes are about 3 times as many as Chris Paul's 28, and over 5 times Kevin Garnett's 15. Revisionist history can't change the fact that Kobe was better defensively than he'd been at that end for a while.

It can't change the fact that Kobe kept coming up with scoring avalanches to lead the Lakers past tough opposition. It can't change the fact that he was the single most clutch player that season, or that he was shouldering a greater burden than every other player in the league and he came through magnificently.