King James King of Cleveland; Kobe Stinks

When you ask yourself, "Who is a better basketball player?", one of the first things that comes to mind is how he ranks on his repsective team's all-time scoring list. The answer to this question should give you a little insight on how the MVP voting will be this year: Lebron, 1; Kobe, 4 (Paul, Garnett). Lebron had 29/12/5 in the win over a solid Raptors team. He took over the game in the second half, scoring 23 points to lead the Cavs to a 90-83 victory. Cleveland either needs to go 10-2 or have the Lakers not come first in the West, and the true MVP will be crowned.

The Lakers beat the lowly Sonics but Kobe didn't really do much in that game.

As a special treat, here are the true* NBA power rankings (* The NBA.com power rankings are basically a 'Who's Hot' list, placing the most emphasis on the last 20 games for each team. My rankings will take into account strength of schedule, health of the team, and a whole bunch of other factors that make this the best power rankings on the net):

1. Celtics - When you can complete the Texas Sweep (win 3 consecutice games at Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio) with an injured All-Star, you are deemed worthy of topping my rankings.

2. Pistons - "But they are in the Eastern Conference!"... Blah blah blah; they are 19-8 vs. the West (.703, better than any WC team vs. the league) and have the coolest player in the league in Rasheed Wallace.

3. Lakers - As much as I hate the Lakers and everyting about Kobe Bryant, they are the team to beat in the West. They have had an easy schedule of late, but continue to win without Bynum and Gasol.

4. Suns - Yeah I know, you probably thing I'm a homer and just putting them up here because of their 6 game winning steak. You are wrong. How can you go wrong with two former MVPs, seriously. Their team is built to go deep this year. The adjustment period of the trade is over, and they're not about to roll over, yet.

5. Hornets - They've been within 1 game of first since the All-Star Game. Led by a potential MVP, they will play in one of the toughest second round matches in recent memory.

6. Rockets - They won on the road vs. the Warriors last night. I had a tough time putting them ahead of the Spurs, Jazz, and Mavericks for the fourth spot in the West, but I think if they can secure homecourt in the first round, they can finally advance past it.

7. Spurs - I hate the Spurs the most out of any team in professional sports (sans the Yankees) and I feel dirty placing them high. But I think that the dirty play of Bruce Bowen and Ginobili will give them a good shot at a top 4 seed, and if they play the Rockets in round one, they matchup is basically a toss-up.

8. Cavaliers - Even though they may have a worse record than the top 9 teams in the West and play most of their games vs. EC teams, they have a better chance of winning the title for two reasons: The EC playoffs shouldn't be tough except for the Celtics (they can beat the Pistons (see 2007 ECF)); Lebron James is a God.

9. Magic - They have the defensive player of the year. 'Nuff Said.

10. Jazz - They are my second most hated team in the NBA dating back to the Malone Era. But the Mavericks have been playing like a D-League team of late, and the rest of the East is terrible, so they are here by default.

The final West spot is probably going to come down to the Warriors and the Nuggets. It's going to be sad if the Nuggets miss the playoffs with a +.600 record, and the Atlanta Hawks (who?) make it with their awesome sub-.450 record.

The NBA should seriously consider doing something about this unbalance of talent. My awesome idea is to disallow any sub-.500 team from making the playoffs, provided there is a +.500 team in the other conference not in the playoffs. Example: The Sixers are the 7th seed with a .493 winning percentage right now. The Nuggets are 9th in the West with a +.500 record, so they take the Sixers spot. Same goes for the Hawks (who?) and the TrailBlazers. Then, the East could place the two West teams where they belong in the seeding according to their records. David Stern, I am a genius.