MVP chatter drowns out real story By 9 p.m. Eastern on a Friday night in late February, Magic forward Tracy McGrady is relaxing, watching his teammates close out the fourth quarter of a home win over the Bulls. McGrady put in an honest night's work -- 52 points, five rebounds and three steals in just 33 minutes of court time. Two hours later, in Minnesota, Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett also is punching out for the night, with 34 points and 16 rebounds on his ledger. By the time the clock rolls past 1 a.m. on the East Coast, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant has hoisted 32 shots, made 15 of them, scored 40 points and grabbed seven rebounds. One side note to remember: Garnett is 26, Bryant is 24 and McGrady is 23. Speaking a few weeks ago, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said, "Look at these guys, and you have to get excited about the future of this league. If you put Tracy McGrady or Kevin Garnett or Kobe Bryant on the floor 10 or 15 years ago, no one would know what to do. They would be aliens out there. We haven't had players like this before." It is in our nature to take performances and place them in a competitive context, so the context in which we will speak of Bryant, Garnett and McGrady in the coming weeks will center on the MVP award. With due respect to Tim Duncan of the Spurs, Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks and other candidates whose horns will be tooted, it's the Bryant-Garnett-McGrady triangle that will dominate the MVP discussion, and rightfully so. But I just cringe at what that entails. There will be a dissection of each player's production and detailed arguments about the ineptitude of their teammates. There will be mathematical formulae ad nauseum, numerical voodoo evaluating the minutia in each player's stat sheet, examinations of their free throw-to-turnover-to-shoe size-per 48 minutes ratios. There also will be the standard rhetoric on each of the three: that Bryant is nothing without his mountainous teammate, Shaquille O'Neal; that Garnett can't win a playoff series; that McGrady excels only because he is a one-man show. And, of course, the ultimate in idiotic, star-bashing NBA rhetoric -- subtle reminders that none of the them is Michael Jordan and never will be. You're welcome to engage in that. Of course, you're also welcome to walk out on your first date with Cindy Crawford because you're tired of looking at that mole or split after the first act of La Traviata because, heck, the whole darned thing is in Italian. For the next few minutes, at least, I am refusing to be so petty. There is more going on here than a mere race for the title of "MVP, 2002-03." To look at the seasons of Bryant, Garnett and McGrady in an MVP context fails to consider the big picture. What is happening here is not just a matter of who's the MVP this year, it's a matter of establishing the league's hierarchy of stars for the next several years, of cementing the status of three very young guys who we always suspected could play at an unheard of level. Now, they are doing it, and they are putting themselves atop the league pantheon in the process. As one veteran scout says, "I can't ever remember having this many guys this young playing this way. Someone like McGrady, where does he go from here? He is not in his prime yet; how good will he be in five years?" The three players, the scout says, have not made changes in style or skill. Garnett has boosted his post play a bit; McGrady has improved his outside shot, and Bryant seems more patient working in the Lakers' offense, but these are minor adjustments. The bigger change is mental, a matter of gaining maturity. As McGrady puts it, "You just get in this mood where you feel like you're the best player on the Earth -- nobody can stop you, no matter what type of defense they throw at you." The overall numbers are impressive, but it's what these three have done as the season has progressed that separates them. Each hit a groove around the start of the new year and has not let up. Since January 1, Garnett is averaging 24.7 points and 12.9 rebounds and has done it while shooting 54.8 percent. Bryant has averaged 36.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists in that span, and McGrady has scored 32.7 points per game, with 7.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists. This is more than just three players on a roll -- this is three players having career breakthroughs. One of them will win the MVP award. The vote, no doubt, will be tight, and supporters of the second- and third-place finishers will be outraged that their pick was snubbed. There's an old saying, though, that mocks the astrophysicist who never takes the time to step outside and appreciate the stars. Before the numbers get crunched, before the MVP debate gets ugly, a little appreciation of these stars seems in order.
hey what u wrote was great and very true maybe they can make it tie and give out 3 mvp awards cuz they are all amazing players
i wish i wrote it, it was the front page thing on yahoo sports, i cut and pasted the article, because i thought it was very good. i wish they could give the mvp to more than 1 person, but you can't. kg will win it.
garnetts obviously gonna get the mvp this season but its hard 2 say who will become better in the long run.
