These Lakers made some pretty valuable moves too

Kobe Bryant does not deserve the MVP award this season.

He deserves to get it every year.

He’s the best player in the game, and because there is no provision for marking him down for being a baby off the court at times, he should already have a trophy case filled with MVP awards.

The argument this year waged by some that he has become more of a team player or done something different to really earn the reward is ridiculous.

In the past, he has had spurts where he has been the team player, spurts where he has tried to do it all, and spurts where he has pouted.

Same thing happened this season, Phil Jackson maybe a little better now on how he handles Kobe’s spurts.

Bryant is the most valuable player in the NBA, all right, the sport at its exciting best whenever he is on the court. If David Stern could arrange it, he would have Kobe playing every playoff game to the very last possible date for the NBA this June.

The NBA has a number of great players, such as Chris Paul, but with Bryant, like Michael Jordan, there is always the chance we will be watching something we might never see again.

The notion, though, that he wants a championship ring more than everyone else is also ridiculous.

He’s just better than everyone else, his competitive drive usually resulting in success, while others who might compete with just as much heart and soul lack the overall Bryant talent.

That’s what makes Bryant the obvious choice for MVP every year, because he has such talent and delivers so often.

But as for the MVP, or Most Valuable Performer in the NBA this season, if there were such an honor it should go to Jerry Buss, Mitch Kupchak and Jackson.

Bryant called Buss an “idiot,” and once again Buss responded by proving he is one of the best owners in sports, which sometimes means doing nothing.

Buss has always liked Bryant’s game, but Bryant called him out last summer, suggesting Buss was as much an idiot as a liar for not surrounding him with better players as promised, giving the owner every reason to react, or even overreact.

The owner added a DUI to his resume, criticism mounting that the Lakers under Buss had lost it, or so most folks were thinking just 11 months ago.

As a result, the pressure was really on Kupchak, most everyone in these parts wondering why he still had a job and looking for someone to take a fall -- if only to appease Bryant, or make room for the return of Jerry West.

How many folks out there thought West was the only answer to put the Lakers back on track? Come on, Kobe, raise your hand.

Instead, Buss replied by throwing his complete support behind Kupchak -- Kupchak responding to the turmoil as he does everything, calmly stating and restating the Lakers’ plans for long-term success. You kind of get the idea that Kupchak’s idea of a rip-roaring time is to stand up, but very slowly.

An irritated Bryant, meanwhile, was caught on video saying he couldn’t understand why Kupchak had refused to trade Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd when he had the chance. How’s that working out for Dallas?

He also didn’t seem too pleased with the idea that the Lakers were going to go into this season with Bynum still on the roster -- when Bynum could have been used to acquire someone so much more advanced in his career.

Kupchak, steady as always, explored all possibilities but remained convinced that Bynum would become a valuable contributor to the Lakers at some point.

But around here it really didn’t matter what Kupchak thought, most fans treating him like a Dodgers general manager and blaming him for trading away Shaq, getting so little in return, and later acquiring Kwame Brown.

Kupchak took a public beating but went to work, doing what he said he would do all along to improve the Lakers, while everyone else wondered whether Bryant would show up for the opening of training camp.

Kupchak secured the services of Derek Fisher, a lucky break, but the good teams are lucky like that. He sent Brian Cook and Maurice Evans to Orlando for Trevor Ariza -- initially drawing a collective yawn from Lakers fans.

He swiped Pau Gasol from Memphis, and although many Bryant supporters remain convinced none of this would have happened had Bryant not thrown his tantrum, they haven’t been paying attention.

Kupchak was determined to improve the Lakers before Bryant’s outburst, but with the proviso he would do it in the best interests of the Lakers, and not just in the best interests of Bryant.

It might explain why Buss has never wavered in his support of Kupchak.

Then there’s Jackson, the Zen paying off last summer, and Bryant finding an ally in an author who had previously trashed him for his petulant behavior. If Phil and Kobe can be friends, then maybe Page 2 and, well, never mind.

Jackson was brilliant last summer, taking the edge off Bryant’s tantrum and saying all the right things to his star player. Can’t wait to read his next book, though.

At the same time, whether it was Jackson, his assistant coaches or the passage of time, Bynum and the Lakers’ supporting cast reported to work much improved.

Forced to compliment Bynum, it took some of the steam out of Bryant’s argument that the Lakers were no longer championship-worthy.

In hindsight, every team should have an owner, general manager and head coach responding to controversy and franchise chaos as Buss, Kupchak and Jackson did.

And so when Bryant is named MVP, as he should be this season and every season, it would be nice if he thanked the Lakers brass for hanging in there with him when he was stomping his feet and looking to move to Chicago.

It would also be a good time to announce publicly he no longer is a baby, no longer wishes to be traded and has no interest in terminating his contract a year from now -- because he just can’t imagine playing for anyone other than Buss, Kupchak and Jackson.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. For previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.