And Then There Were Two....

While Kevin Garnett and Lebron James have been nothing short of MVP caliber this season, two other superstars have stolen the MVP race spotlight. Kobe Bryant and Chris Paul while being in a near dead heat for the #1 seed in the Western Conference also find each other neck and neck in the MVP race. Kobe's Lakers currently stand at 56-25, one half game ahead of Paul's Hornets (55-25). This MVP race, while being as tightly contested as any in recent history, could come down to which player can lead his squad to that elusive Western Conference top seed. There is no doubt that both Kobe and CP3 are both more than deserving of winning the award but only one of them can win, so let's take a look and see which man is more deserving.

Stats - Kobe's 28 points a game are clearly much more impressive than Paul's 21 ppg but comparing those two in scoring would be about as legitimate as comparing the two in assists. Kobe is a shooting guard, a position that is often the focal point of a teams scoring. Chris Paul is the point guard, in charge of being the floor general and getting other people high percentage shots. At over 11 assists per game, clearly Paul does the job as well as anyone in the league. Kobe rounds out his impressive stat line with 6 rebounds and 5 assists per game, showing his ability to so anything he wants out on the floor. Chris Paul's 2.7 steals is extremely impressive, Kobe stealing almost 1 less ball a game at 1.85. Both players shoot the ball well, having almost identical percentages from the field, the line and from three point distance. These two guys perform their specific role within their team to near perfection, and their stats show it. Result - Push

Supporting Cast - All things considered equal, Chris Paul wins this category hands down. The average NBA fan probably can't name more than one of Paul's teammates, if that. The aspect of this argument that makes this question in need of some more in depth analysis by the voters is that Kobe's main support has been very injury prone. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrw Bynum have all missed their fair share of time this season. The one constant with the Lakers has been Kobe, who kept the Lakers from having any drop off when those players went down. While Kobe's leadership is underrated in my opinion, there is no doubt that Chris Paul is the king of making the players around him better. While David West and Peja Stojakovic are nice players, their games would suffer greatly if they did not have Paul running the show. Maybe the biggest beneficiary from Paul is big man Tyson Chandler as it appears he has finally found a home in the NBA. Result - Chris Paul

Head to Head - Last Friday, these two studs went head to head for the fourth time this season, the winner getting a leg up in the quest for the 1 seed and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. It was a matchup of the Titans where both guys had their full arsenal on display. Kobe finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists while Paul finished with 15 points, 17 assists and 6 rebounds. While those stats are great, the win is all that matters and Kobe was able to deliver that to his squad, 107-104. Paul was able to lead his to victory in their first matchup dishing out an incredible 21 assists. Paul then went for 32 points in the second mathcup on Jan. 9th. Problem is, the Hornets don't need Paul to score they need him to distribute. Paul finished with only 5 assists and the Hornets got blown out by 29 points. The Hornets redeemed themselves in game #3 as Paul got back to being Paul, finishing with 17 dimes and a 10 point win. While the season series finished 2-2 and both of these guys had their fair share of greatness in the four meetings, Kobe and the Lakers won the one that mattered most. Result - Kobe

The bottom line is either guy is more than deserving of the award. In the end, I believe that Kobe punched his ticket to winning his first MVP award with the win over Paul's hornets last Friday. I change my opinion every day on who I believe is more deserving. The race is so tight that I think that the only way I can distinguish between them is by which team takes the top seed in the playoffs. If it's the Lakers, my vote goes to Kobe, if it's the Hornets my vote goes to Chris Paul. It's that close.