ESPN NBA

We asked NBA writers from ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine, as well as NBA analysts from ESPN, to provide their choices for NBA Most Valuable Player, ranked from 1 to 5.

Here is Ric Bucher's ballot:

Bucher's Ballot

Rank	Player	Comment
		LeBron James If ever there was a year I wanted to split my first-place vote, this was it. My main quibble with James is he hasn't fully tapped his potential. But that is no reason to ignore the force of nature he's become. Or the leap he's made in intangibles to take the Cavs to the top of the league.
		Kobe Bryant Still the game's best pure all-around player, but I've always seen this award as a little more than that. He appears to have measured this season to make sure he has something left for the postseason, unlike last year. He's got Larry O'Brien, not Maurice Podoloff, on his mind.
		Chris Paul His supporting cast has been in shambles all season. The Hornets' record has dipped from last season, but it would have plunged if Paul hadn't brought more to the table than he did last year, when he was a close second in the MVP race.
		Dwyane Wade No one is more fun to watch and his knack for big buckets when the Heat have teetered has been magnificent. But for all his heroics, it's just hard to ignore that he could lead the league in turnovers this season, or that the Heat are barely above .500.
		Chauncey Billups Denver has the same crazy characters they've always had -- maybe more than ever, having added the Birdman -- and yet they've played all season long with a tenacity and intelligence we've never seen. Every sign points to Billups for that.

 
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Abbott	Adande	Barry	Brooks	Broussard	Bucher	Ford	LZ	Hill
Hollinger	Legler	Neel	Palmer	Ramsay	Rose	Sheridan	Stein	Thorpe