Kobe Bryant 2008 NBA MVP

Tuesday night, Hollywood setting, the best of them was Kobe Bryant.

Alas, Kobe Bryant has been adjudged as the Most Valuable Player.

“It’s Hollywood, it’s a movie script. The perfect ending would be for us to hold a championship trophy at the end of it,” Bryant said at a news conference attended by his teammates, club officials, his wife and two daughters.

Bryant received 82-first-place votes and 1,105 points in the media vote. He was followed by New Orleans’ Chris Paul (28 and 889), Boston’s Kevin Garnett (15 and 670) and Cleveland’s LeBron James (1 and 438).

Bryant averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.84 steals while playing all 82 games despite tearing a ligament in his right pinkie in February. He put off surgery until after the Olympics.

“I don’t know anybody who’s ever deserved this trophy more. I don’t know anybody who’s ever worked as hard to accomplish what he’s accomplished,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. Jackson has been with MVP’s Michael Jordan and Shaquille O’ Neal.

Bryant, second in the NBA in scoring behind James, is the first Laker to win the MVP award since O’Neal. Other Lakers to win since the award was first presented in 1956 were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson—each times. Abdul-Jabbar also won three with Milwaukee.

Bryant has been a three-time champion. two-time scoring leader, ten-time all star, two-time all star mvp and a slam dunk champion. He was the first guard drafted out of high school.

Garnett 2008 NBA Defensive Player of the Year

The man behind Boston’s renewed spirits is the same one who believes that “defense wins championships”.

Kevin Garnett, the Celtics offseason acquisition was named 2008 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

He had 90 of the 124 first-place votes and a total of 493 points. Marcus Camby of Denver, last year’s winner, was second with 12 first and 178 points, just edging Shane Battier of Houston, who received 11 first-place votes and 175 points.

He has been Boston’s anchor since day one, transforming last year’s mediocre team as one of the league’s toughest customers to handle.

“He’s been the class of the NBA defensively for a long time now,” Pierce said. “He just anchors our defense. He controls the paint, blocks shots, a lot of things that don’t show up in the stat sheet, with his talking.”

Kevin averaged 1.2 blocks, 1.4 steals and 7.3 defensive rebounds to go with 18.8 points and 9.2 total rebounds per game this year. And has been a perennial mainstay of the NBA’s All Defensive team.

Ginobili, 2008 NBA Sixth Man

If Michael Jordan embodies the true go-to-guy a team needs in clutch situation, then Manu Ginobili typifies what a team-player in basketball is.

Never has it been an issue for the Argentine superstar to come off the bench and play third fiddle to celebrated teammates Duncan and Parker but when time comes that San Antonio needs somebody to bail them out, Manu steps up and delivers.

Ginobili is good enough to be any team’s starting guard or small forward but embraces the system Pop puts into the team.

“I really don’t care about coming from the bench if that helps the team to win a championship,” Ginobili said.

Ginobili got 123 of 124 first-place votes for 615 points. Barbosa came in second with 283 points and the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry was third with 44.

“He’s one of the better players in the NBA, who just happens to come off the bench,” said Spurs starting guard Michael Finley. “Any other team in the league, he’d probably be starting, but for him to come off the bench and put his ego aside it just shows what kind of team we have, and more importantly what kind of player and All-Star he is.”

The Spurs have a 1-0 lead over the Phoenix Suns in their best-of-seven first-round playoff series.

Manu was drafted by the Spurs in the 2nd round of the 99 draft.

Ginobili led the Spurs in scoring, averaging a career-high 19.5 points to go with 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists. Ginobili came off the bench in 51 of the 74 games he played this season.

He was a member of the 2004 Argentinian team that won the Olympic gold medal. He also won three championships with San Antonio.