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Welcome to the mid-March edition of the NBA Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year rankings. Writers across the Bloguin network have entered their ballots, along with commentary. Take a look at who the favorites are to take out the hardware at season end.
Contributors: Mookie (A Stern Warning); Pace Miller (Pacers Pulse); College Wolf (TWolves Blog); Don (With Malice); Jeff Fox (The Hoops Manifesto); Lives (Knicks Fanatics Blog); Joe Spencer (Barkley's Mouth); Jeff Garcia (Project Spurs); Brendan Bowers (Stepien Rules); Dave Pustilnik (Da Bull's Eye); and Sean François (Hoop Heads North).
Most Valuable Player (MVP)
Voters allocated 10 votes for their first choice, through to 1 vote for their tenth choice.
 1. LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) - 110 votes
"When you ride a player to the point where you have the luxury to actually sit him by choice because of how far he's taken you in the season, and then promptly lose the 1st game he sits...I think we have a winner. The best team in the league is nothing without arguably the best player in the league." (Da Bull's Eye)
 2. Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) - 87 votes
"Even many former Kobe-haters have converted their ways in the past couple of years. Perhaps "greatest of the past decade" is a title he is undeserved of, but "most dangerous scorer in the league today" is definitely deserved. He is a leader on both ends of the court for a lethal title contending team." (A Stern Warning)
 3. Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) - 80 votes
"He very well could lead the league in scoring, and really, he does it all. The Thunder might have home-court advantage in the playoffs, in the West. That's just sick." (TWolves Blog)
 4. Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks) - 74 votes
"Dallas has been on an amazing run. Yes, a large part of that has been Kidd's rejuvenation, but Dirk's the reason they've been up near the top for the entire season." ( With Malice)
 5. Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) - 66 votes
"Most efficient scorer in the NBA on the only team in the West with a legitimate chance of knocking off the Lakers." (Pacers Pulse)
"Nuggets winning three in a row and Melo dropped 30 points in each of those." (Project Spurs)
 6. Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) - 56 votes
"I don't feel like he's getting any love from anyone this year... media or bloggers. All he's done is lead the league in rebounding and blocks, while scoring almost 20 points per game on the team with the third best overall record. Chump." (TWolves Blog)
 7. Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat) - 32 votes
"Heat are mediocre at best but Wade has been the constant for this team." (The Hoops Manifesto)
"He could have let this year slip by, but he continues to achieve even with a.500 team." (Knicks Fanatics Blog)
 8. Deron Williams (Utah Jazz) - 23 votes
"Yes, Boozer's playing well, but Deron Williams is the man behind Utah's renaissance." (With Malice)
"For some reason he always seems to be overlooked, but Deron Williams is having a tremendous year and has lead the Jazz to a place among the elite teams this year." (The Hoops Manifesto)
 9. Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) - 21 votes
"Turning back the hands of time, playing the best ball since his back-to-back MVP seasons." (Pacers Pulse)
"17 points and 11 assists per game. The dude still has it." (Project Spurs)
 10. Joe Johnson (Atlanta Hawks) - 13 votes
"The Hawks look legit and they have a clutch player and a true go-to guy in Joe Johnson. He manages to put them on his back in late game situations and they have come out on top more often than not this season. The Hawks have their first chance in years to make some serious noise in the playoffs, and it's mostly due to their best player, Joe." (Da Bull's Eye)
Others receiving votes (in order of finish): Zach Randolph (Memphis Grizzlies), Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors), Brandon Roy (Portland Trail Blazers), Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs), Carlos Boozer (Utah Jazz), Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks), Chris Kaman (Los Angeles Clippers), Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets).
Rookie of the Year (ROY)
Voters allocated 5 votes to their first choice, through to 1 vote for their fifth choice.
 1. Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings) - 54 votes
"The LeBron James of rookies. This dude is ill." (TWolves Blog)
"Carry's himself like a vet when rookies are usually recoiling into fetal position." (Knicks Fanatics Blog)
 2. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) - 39 votes
"Prolific scorer and made a late run, but Evans has been on all year. Regardless, Curry is a beast." (Da Bull's Eye)
"I'd only separate Curry/Jennings by a mere hair, but there's no denying Curry has the greater impact on his team. Thus the nod at 2nd." (With Malice)
 3. Brandon Jennings (Milwaukee Bucks) - 33 votes
"If indeed he turns out to be an Allen Iverson-esque player, then the massive ups and subsequent downs of his rookie season might be representative of his career ahead. Either way, a massive talent." (A Stern Warning)
 4. Darren Collison (New Orleans Hornets) - 18 votes
"No Chris Paul, no worries for the Hornets. Collison stepping in nicely for this New Orleans team." (Project Spurs)
"If he had his current minutes all season, he'd be a lock for ROY." (Pacers Pulse)
 5. Jonny Flynn (Minnesota Timberwolves) - 7 votes
"JUST gets the nod ahead of other notables..." (With Malice)
"This is tough because of the playing time issue. Rooks on lousy teams get plenty of burn while guys like Ty Lawson have been superior players without sufficient opportunity to prove it." (Barkley's Mouth)
Others receiving votes (in order of finish): Taj Gibson (Chicago Bulls), DeJuan Blair (San Antonio Spurs), Ty Lawson (Denver Nuggets), Omri Casspi (Sacramento Kings), James Harden (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jonas Jerebko (Detroit Pistons).
The final MVP and ROY rankings poll will come at the end of the regular season when the writers of Bloguin tip who the real award winners should be. NBA Base Line brings you the choicest cuts of Bloguin NBA news and opinion. To keep up with NBA Base Line including our regular BaseLineCut posts, subscribe to our RSS feed and follow @ASternWarning on twitter.
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