Kobe opens up in the Grantland Basketball Hour…
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has insisted that the media is to blame for him only winning one MVP award in his long and successful career.
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His comments come after recent criticism from Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant, who also argued that the media have too much power in the voting process and wants the players to be able to have the final say.
While Bryant stopped short of attacking the media like Durant did during the All-Star break, he remains adamant that they are the reason behind the fact that he has only won the award once.
“Because the media votes on it. It was a never a mission of mine to win a lot of MVPs. It was to win a lot of championships,” he told the Grantland Basketball Hour.
“With that being said, does it bother me? Yeah, it bothers me. Of course it bothers me.”
Nevertheless, considering his haul of championships with the Lakers, Bryant will undoubtedly savour those more so than an MVP award.
While the 37-year-old has been consistently great across almost two decades, the MVP award doesn’t take into consideration his success in the playoffs.
Further, with Shaquille O’Neal also dominating alongside him during the first run of championships, and then the emergence of the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant in more recent years, it would always have been tough for Bryant to win the award.
While there is a legitimate argument in his favour in terms of him being worthy of being more than just a one-time winner, it may well irk him after his playing days are over but he can certainly look back on his career and know that he had a huge impact on the league as a whole.
His peers would have undoubtedly picked him to win more individual accolades such is the respect for him, but the system as it is has not rewarded him sufficiently in his eyes.
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