All right, so it’s too little too late, but here goes anyway: CP3 for MVP!
Chris Paul didn’t win the NBA’s MVP award, but, as these playoffs have proven, he should have. Nothing against Kobe Bryant, your basic player for the ages, but he hasn’t had the kind of season Paul has.
Bryant, thanks in part to the acquisition of Pao Gasol, has put the Lakers in position to win the West and perhaps the NBA championship. Paul? He has changed the culture in New Orleans, transforming a have-not franchise into a legitimate contender. Along the way, he has revitalized a city and impacted careers across the league.
To wit: Former NBA general managers Larry Harris and Billy Knight, each of whom bypassed Paul in the 2005 draft, no longer are on the job in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Harris was fired in March and Knight resigned on Tuesday, a few months after acquiring Mike Bibby before the trading deadline.
And what position does Bibby play? Point guard. Makes you wonder what would have happened if Knight had selected Paul with the second pick instead of Marvin Williams.
To say Paul makes his teammates better is an understatement. He turns ordinary players into impact players. Players such as David West, who has emerged as an all-star-caliber player with Paul in the lineup.
West averaged 3.8 and 6.2 points in his first two NBA seasons. Since Paul’s arrival, he has averaged 17.1, 18.3 and 20.6. You don’t suppose Paul has been a factor in West’s ascension up the NBA food chain, do you? Nah, didn’t think so.
Then there’s Tyson Chandler, who was a two-dimensional player with the Bulls. As in, defense and rebounding, not scoring. After averaging 5.3 points a game in his final season in Chicago, he has improved to 9.5 and 11.8 with Paul getting him the ball.
But then, let’s not get caught up in numbers here. If you want to know who the real MVP is, check out the playoffs. Paul ran laps around Jason Kidd in the Dallas series, and did it again against Tony Parker in the first two games vs. the Spurs.
Most people had penciled in the Spurs and Lakers in the Western Conference finals. Apparently, like Kidd and Parker, they never saw Paul coming.
Follow Jim Armstrong’s daily sports commentaries on The Jimmy Page midday during the week. And read his columns on Sundays at .
He can be reached at 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
