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#3 The other candidates had better supporting casts overall
A quick glance at the Hornets' roster for the 2007-08 season tells you that Chris Paul had an excellent supporting cast that complemented his skillset pretty well and accentuated his skillset to all-time high levels of play. The Hornets' starting five of Paul, Morris Peterson, Peja Stojakovic, David West and Tyson Chandler was able to hang with most matchups in the league by itself - 4 All-Star caliber players and a specialist on the same roster.
Garnett, who finished 3rd in voting, had Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo on his team, other than some notable role players like Kendrick Perkins, Eddie House and Sam Cassell.
LeBron James was the only other MVP contender who had a sub-par supporting cast - but when you compare and contrast his teammates and their role through the regular season, it is difficult to arrive at the conclusion whether he was worse off than Kobe. Even if we give him the benefit of having a worse supporting cast, however, his team underperformed as a whole despite him winning the scoring title, regressing to a 45-37 record from 50-32 in 2006-07.
Guess the Lakers players!
