A couple of weeks ago the battle for MVP seemed to be Kobe vs. LeBron James. Now the tides have turned and it looks to be Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets vs Kobe of the LA Lakers. Both teams ride atop of the west and tonight is the big showdown between these two teams and what could be a key factor in determining this years most valuable player award. Don't miss out on this exciting game where the stakes are extremely high.

I will start off by saying that I am biased towards Kobe and the Lakers for they are my favorite team and Kobe is my favorite player to watch. With that said, both are competing for their very first MVP award and both are very close to earning this great honor. LeBron is having another phenominal season, as he is the leagues leading scorer with 30.3 PPG while Kobe follows closely behind with 28.2 PPG. Both have winning records and both are team leaders. However, I believe that Kobe has the edge due to a couple of reasons. 1- Team record (Lakers are #1 in the west while the Cavs are #4 in the East)  2- 4th quarter performances (Kobe has been more than perfect in his last few fourth quarters, taking over games and pushing the Lakers to victory, ie Kings, Mavs, etc)  3- Kobe plays in the West (Lets face it, we all know the West is where the action + competition is at).

As of now and as it usually goes, these are the four of the top candidates likely to win the MVP award. So far Dwight Howard seems to be in the lead averaging 23 points and 15 rebounds per game, having a team record of 16-4, the most wins in the Eastern conference. Who do you think this years MVP will be?