It has been a rough couple of weeks for the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers as they have suffered some disappointing losses as of late to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Pacific division rival Phoenix Suns, but in an effort to rebound from those losses the Lakers came into their showdown with ex-Laker Ronny Turiaf and the Golden State Warriors looking to prove they are still the best team in the NBA this season.

Just like any defending champ in any sport, the minute the team starts to slip in their title defense, even slightly, the media will immediately start to turn on them and ask a lot of questions on whether or not they have what it takes to repeat.

That has been exactly what has happen to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers as of late after being blowout by the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day and once again against Steve Nash’s Phoenix Suns in their next game. With two consecutive losses to title contending teams questions bound to arise, but in an effort to quite the Lakers critics, Kobe Bryant came out against the Golden State Warriors with chip on his shoulder.

40 point games are not uncommon for Kobe Bryant this season as he has had six of them coming into last night’s matchup against the Warriors. With six 40 point games and two buzzer beaters against the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks this season along with the best record in the NBA (25-6), Kobe Bryant is making a strong case for another MVP award this season and after his season high 44 points in the win against the Warriors (127-118) he is the unanimous choice for the MVP so far in my opinion.

Kobe finished the game with 44 points on 13-27 shooting from the floor, 11 assists, 16-16 from the free throw line and only one turnover. Pretty impressive if you ask me! I know it was against the lowly Golden State Warriors, but Kobe keeps showing that he is just getting better with age.

Pau Gasol also had a great game against Golden State with 27 points to with 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.