By Mark Heisler / On the NBA
11:03 AM PDT, April 8, 2008
Overthe weekend, I asked 21 NBA writers from 19 cities and two websites fortheir first, second and third MVP picks for this season, and the resultwas...
The Lakers' Kobe Bryant, named by all 21, had 10 first-place votes, eight seconds and three thirds.
湖人科比布莱恩特获得21张选票，10张第一选票，8张第二选票，3张第三选票。
New Orleans' Chris Paul, named by all 21, had 8-9-4.
黄蜂克里斯保罗获得21张选票，8张第一选票，9张第二选票，4张第三选票。
Boston's Kevin Garnett was a distant third, named on 15 ballots with 2-3-10.
凯尔特人凯文加内特只获得15张选票，2张第一选票，3张第二选票，10张第三选票。
Only four players were named, the last being LeBron James of Cleveland, who made six ballots and got 1-1-4.
只有4个球员榜上有名。排名垫底的是克利夫兰骑士的勒布朗詹姆斯，仅得到6张选票，1张第一选票，1张第二选票，4张第三选票。
This is like polling for the Pennsylvaniaprimary, interesting but almost as far out. The primary is April 22.The MVP race will go right down to the league's deadline for submittingballots, after the NBA regular season ends April 16.
Twovoters who had Bryant first and Paul second joked about changing theirmind hourly. Both said they'll go with Paul if his Hornets finish No. 1 in the Western Conference.
Thisis only a test of general sentiment. With more and more newspaperswithdrawing from the process (as The Times has), only six writers inthis poll have actual votes.
(For what it's worth, three of those had Paul first and three had Bryant first.)
（这6个人当中，有3位的第一选择是保罗，而另外3位则是科比）
What this does suggest is it's a two-man race.
一切预示着本赛季的MVP角逐将是这两个男人间的战争。
Garnettgalvanized the Celtics, who weren't even a consensus pick to win theEast. However, his candidacy is undercut by missing nine games but evenmore by playing alongside two stars, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
I'msurprised to see James run this well. As good as he is, he's notgenerally considered the game's best player -- that would be Bryant --and his Cavaliers are fourth in the East, 19 1/2 games out of first.
"Ifit stopped the way it is, I think Chris Paul has been outstanding andhis team has been the top of the charts," said two-time MVP Steve Nash.
“如果本赛季按现在的方式继续发展，保罗是本赛季无可争议的最抢眼的球员。黄蜂在他的带领下已经取得西部第一的骄人战绩，”2届MVP得主纳什表示。
"It'sthe team, your impact on your team and what you do overall. Let's faceit, he has been unbelievable. His scoring, his assisting, he's a leaderin steals. He shoots a good percentage. He put his team on his back inthe fourth quarter. That's what it's about. He doesn't have the playersaround him that Kobe has."
