Commentary

Harper's 2010-11 MVP ballot

Updated: April 12, 2011, 2:57 AM ET

By | ESPN.com

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 first to fifth.

Here is Zach Harper's ballot:

Rank	Player	Comment
		Derrick Rose This Bulls team is driven by two things: incredible team defense and Derrick Rose. Both are equally important to this being the best team in the East. Take him away and you're left with the Bucks. Nobody wants to be the Bucks this season.
		LeBron James Everyone hates LeBron and his numbers are down this season. His team hasn't met ridiculous expectations. But through all the pressure, his defense has been game-changing and he's still putting up 26-7-7 (something that's been done only 14 other times in NBA history).
		Dwight Howard Dwight is easily having the best season of his career and he has kept a really suspect supporting cast on the cusp of mattering in the East. I just have a hard time giving this award to a guy that is a liability at the end of basketball games.
		Dirk Nowitzki The last couple of weeks have exposed just how questionable this Mavericks team's scoring attack is. Dirk's efficient scoring gives them focus and direction to win games. And he's been a very good team defender too.
		Chris Paul If we're going to constantly mention the supporting cast that Dwight Howard is dragging to wins, we should really look at Chris Paul's teammates. He keeps everybody in his role and his ball pressure helps set the tone for a very good defensive unit.

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CLICK THE PICS BELOW TO SEE THE BALLOTS OF OUR ESPN WRITERS AND ANALYSTS

Abbott	Adande	Arnovitz	Barry	Berrios	Bowen	Brooks	Broussard
Brown	Bucher	Caplan	Coon	Ford	Friedell	LZ	Haberstroh
Harper	Hill	Hollinger	Jackson	Lipscomb	Legler	MacMahon	McMenamin
Palmer	Ramsay	Shelburne	Sheridan	Stein	Thorpe	Wallace	Windhorst