Bryant vs. James isn’t the story

And the 2008-09 MVP is . . .

As if.

That wasn’t an MVP-off between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, or a shootout, it was a basketball game between the Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On one hand, James outscored a handicapped Bryant, 23-20, and unless something changes, LeBron is a cinch to be the most valuable player this season.

On the other, it was Bryant who left happy and James who left blue Monday night after Kobe’s Lakers ran over LeBron’s Cavaliers, 105-88.

The superstars didn’t put on a fireworks show. They may not even make the top 10 highlights on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” the more so because this game was televised by rival TNT.

They just played the game, at as high a level as it gets.

Dedicated to pressuring James on defense, Bryant dislocated the ring finger on his right hand on the Cavaliers’ second possession, trying to knock the ball out of LeBron’s hands.

Calling it “the worst pain I ever played with,” Bryant played 40 minutes, somehow scoring 20 points and hounding James into an nine-for-25 night from the floor.

“I dove for the ball and it just popped out,” said Bryant afterward.

“To be honest with you, as soon as I did it, I put my hand on my finger. I thought I was done, period. I thought I was going to need pins. It was gone.”

Of course, getting hurt would have been one thing. Having to leave, minutes into a matchup with James, would have been another, or as Bryant noted, “I would have been sick.”

It wasn’t a duel in the mind of either. It was better than that for both, the highest level competition there is, each other.

“LeBron versus Kobe never enters my mind, or LeBron versus [Dwyane] Wade or LeBron versus anybody that I go against,” said James before the game.

“It’s always a team game for me. If it was LeBron versus Kobe and we were playing tennis or golf. . . .

“I love challenges. I love the competitive nature that Kobe has and I looked up to him for a long time. That’s the saving grace, [going into the NBA] out of high school after seeing him come straight out of high school.

“To be able to be on the same court with him and compete with him and play alongside him this summer [on the Olympic team] was a blessing for me. It’s great.”

If Bryant has always been just as intent on winning, at James’ age -- 24 -- Kobe was known to shoot it out with players such as Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady.

Bryant said he was just playing hard. Maybe it’s just that in those days, when he played hard, he just naturally shot the ball, a lot.

In the last two seasons, the Lakers have seen a more restrained Bryant, as in the recent win over Miami, when he hounded Wade as he did James, taking only 14 shots, himself.

“I think Kobe still comes to the games, looking for challenges, night in, night out,” said Coach Phil Jackson before the game.

“I think his challenge level has become a little more refined. He does what the team needs him to do.”

Then Bryant went out and did just that.

Of course, there’s the question of why everyone should place so much importance on who the MVP is.

I know everyone does. Chanting “MVP!” when one’s favorite is at the free-throw line has become a ritual throughout the NBA, from here to Cleveland to Oklahoma City (well, Thunder fans have favorites too.)

The award is often taken as a statement of who’s best, which it can’t be if Karl Malone could beat out Michael Jordan in 1997 and 1999.

It’s actually all about the narrative. Last season, the Lakers needed Bryant to be all he could be as they climbed back to elite status, making them a perfect vehicle for the MVP campaign, which Bryant won.

This season, it’s the Cavaliers who need James to be all he can be as they climb into elite status, making them the perfect vehicle.

Bryant is now on a Lakers team with much more firepower and which needs as much restraint as scoring from him. Chris Paul’s Hornets aren’t winning enough, nor is Wade’s Heat.

It’s only a trophy. There’s something more important. No, really.

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mark.heisler@latimes.com