Now, Some of Our Most Valuable Explainers

Can we assume that Fred Hickman voted for Shaq this year?

Jordan Chodorow

Los Angeles

*

How in the world does Kobe Bryant finish behind Jason Kidd, Tracy McGrady and Karl Malone in the MVP voting? I guess the writers’ systematic process for picking the MVP broke down when they collectively ran out of darts.

Kevin Brooks

Tustin

*

Dear Kobe,

I know what you’re thinking, and I’m thinking the same thing. You’ve got more skills than Allen Iverson. You have a better all-around game, you’re seven inches taller, better looking, and can speak Italian. You came in ninth in the MVP voting, which is a joke. You’ll probably never win a league MVP because your teammate is one of the most dominating players to ever play the game.

But let me tell you something. I love the way you’ve been playing lately. You have turned “Kobe bashers” into “Kobe lovers.” It’s not only your unselfish play, it’s everything about you. Iverson said that he never changed, he just grew up and matured as a player and a person. Laker fans can sense the same thing in you. We feel like the best is yet to come, not only as a player, but as a person too. Just remember, Jerry West never won a league MVP and he’s the NBA logo, for goodness sakes!

Alvin M. Okamura

Encino

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If your name is Allen Iverson, you can release an album openly condemning women and gays, shoot the ball more times per game than anyone in the league and at a lower percentage than eight other players on your own team and still win the MVP.

If your name is Kobe Bryant, you can win a championship, release an album encouraging kids to reach higher and score an amazing 28 points per game in an offense designed to showcase someone else, and for that you are labeled selfish.

Doesn’t anyone else think there’s something wrong here?

John Clarke

Westwood

*

Let’s just hope that if the big dog doesn’t get the votes, he still guards the yard.

Shannon Rae

Westwood

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Tim Duncan shows up at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter asks him, “What’s the most courageous thing you ever did?”

Tim says, “I once stood my ground when Shaq wanted to go to the hoop!”

“Wow,” St. Peter says, “When was that?”

Replies Duncan, “About two minutes ago.”

Todd Hemphill

Seal Beach

*

This NBA season has been a regular season, right? I actually don’t know the number of games played, but there have been no lockouts, right?

Could you please tell me what Phil Jackson thinks of the Spurs having the best record in the NBA this “regular” (no asterisk) season?

Jerri Rhodes

San Antonio

*

Because the “Zen master” is so fond of asterisks beside records, I respectfully suggest the following:

Phil Jackson’s six titles with the Chicago Bulls: *Won by rolling the ball out to Michael Jordan, the greatest player in NBA history.

Phil Jackson’s title with the Lakers: *Won by avoiding the defending champion San Antonio Spurs (who had swept the Lakers the year before) whose reigning finals MVP, Tim Duncan, was injured and out of the playoffs, allowing the Lakers the good fortune of meeting the choking Trail Blazers in the Western Conference finals.

Enjoy the asterisks, Phil. Consider yourself the luckiest human being since Ringo Starr!

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

*

Chris Webber was robbed in the MVP voting. The Kings had the best record until he got hurt and missed 10 games late in the season. He was looked on to score, rebound, pass and play defense. He played the bulk of his games in the far superior Western Conference.

Allen Iverson had a great year, scoring 31 points per game. But when you look at his 42% field-goal shooting, probably eight to 10 players could have scored that much if they took as many shots as he did.

As for the argument that the 76ers would have been the Bulls if Iverson wasn’t there, remember they were over .500 in the games he missed, and in four of the losses without Iverson, the 76ers were also without coach-of-the-year Larry Brown. Rewarding him because the 76ers were the best in the East is unfair.

If the Kings and 76ers traded conferences, the Kings would have run away, winning 60-65 games, and the 76ers would have fought to be a No. 6 or 7 seed in the West.

Mike Lorraine

Simi Valley

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Chris Webber should stay with the Sacramento Kings. They are obviously only one or two players away from being a championship team. The only problem is, the one or two players are Shaq and Kobe.

Tim Hugo

Torrance

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Attention Scot Pollard: As you’re now free for the summer, I hear the Calamity Cafe here in West Virginia is looking for impressionists and comedians. I think you’ll dazzle ‘em with the former.

Oh, and if it’s not too much to ask, could I be your writer? I work cheap, you know, and since I’m a hairstylist, I’ll throw in a haircut, free.

Denise Kelly

Wayne, W. Va.

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The Lakers owned them. Maybe they should rename the town Shaqramento.

Tom Schiff

Woodland Hills

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It cannot be said enough: Thank you, Jerry West. Thank you for the summer of ’96.

Rick Wallace

Malibu

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Now that the L.A. Times has christened this year’s Laker squad as the Super Friends, it is only fitting to label their headquarters as the Hall of Justice. It has a nice ring to it. Whoever we play in the finals will be the Legion of Doom. We have Superman (Shaq), the man of steel and Flash (Kobe), the fastest, quickest man on earth. If we play the 76ers, they have Bizarro (Mutombo), kind of slow, but very powerful and Lex Luthor (Iverson), the leader bent on destroying the Super Friends.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter who we meet in the finals. Everyone knows the Super Friends always win in the end.

Hector Reyes

Arleta

*

You see that little guy named Derek Fisher? See his leadership, his passion for the game? Note his basketball knowledge and his motivating personality? That, my friends, is an NBA coach in the making. Remember this: Derek Fisher someday will be one of the greatest coaches ever! Etch it in stone.

Art Brambila

Hacienda Heights

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Now that J.R. Rider has become a permanent cheerleader on the Laker bench, what happens when he misses a team flight? Does anyone from the Laker office call him? Does he have to pay his own way? Does anyone care?

Brian Haueter

Ventura

*

Each year during the playoffs, it seems as if the NBA offers a double standard to the “Superstars” in regard to officiating. Perhaps the MVP award should be redefined as: “Most Violations Permitted.”

Emmet Kane

Los Angeles