Lakers lead, 25-24, after the first quarter

May 4th, 2008, 1:10 pm · Post a Comment · posted by JANIS CARR, OCREGISTER.COM

The chants now are more than wishful thinking.
Nearly every game – home or away this season — Lakers fans have chanted “MVP” whenever Kobe Bryant is around.
Now, they can say it with some authority. Bryant is expected to receive his first MVP award this week, probably Wednesday. (Might not be cool to give it to him in Utah).
The jammed Staples Center crowd began their ritual early Sunday, yelling MVP! MVP!” as soon as Bryant took the floor for introductions for Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals and again when he scored a layup with 8:25 left in the first quarter. One even fan held up a huge gold cutout with the letters “MVP”.
The noise began again when Bryant buried a 3-pointer to go up, 25-22 with 33 seconds left. The Lakers led, 24-24, after the first quarter.

BTW
Former Lakers coach Bill Sharman, a Hall of Fame coach and player, delivered the game ball to the referees before the game.

JANIS CARR/The Register

Reader comments: We want this to be a place where people discuss and debate ideas that foster stronger communities. We expect people to differ -- judgment and opinion are subjective -- and we encourage free speech and the exchange of ideas. But you are participating in a community that is intended for all of our users and we prohibit profanity, vulgarity, racial, sexual and homophobic remarks, threats, harassment and personal attacks. Here's the full User Agreement. Thank you for making this a safe place worth preserving and sharing. Share this: The icons below make it easy to share this post with others. First icon e-mails a link.