LeBron for MVP?

Happy primary election day, Ohioans! Don't forget to vote! Though, I suppose if you need a sports blog to remind you to vote, I'm not sure if I want you to cast a ballot.

Anyway, on this somewhat Super Tuesday, "SportsCenter" last night/this morning asked various observers whether the MVP of the NBA is our LeBron James or the Lakers' Kobe Bryant. And the consensus seemed to be in favor of the one who's not from Ohio. That seems to be the nationwide consensus too, according to an espn.com poll -- Kobe got 75 percent of the vote, and LeBron only carried two states, Ohio and Rhode Island. Why Rhode Island? No idea.

It must be noted that the poll did not ask who is the MVP, but who is the best player, and that's not the same thing. But I'm sure most people would vote the same way.

I suspect much of this has to do with the fact that Kobe's the established superstar, and while he's been considered the best, or at least one of the two or three best, in the game for several years, he's never won an MVP. But who can see into the hearts of Kobe voters?

The Cavaliers are 34-20 when LeBron plays, 0-6 when he doesn't. But Kobe hasn't missed a game all year, and the Lakers are 42-18. To be fair, you have to give Kobe a little extra credit for not missing any games, even though it's not LeBron's fault he was hurt.

I still think LeBron's the guy, mostly because of the way he takes over games in the fourth quarter and seems to get wins singlehandedly. But I can't pretend to be unbiased, and I've obviously seen a whole lot more of LeBron than I have of Kobe. Anyway, it doesn't matter what I think, because I don't have a vote.