Check out this article at ProBasketballNews.com for my take why Kobe Bryant should win the 2006 NBA MVP:

Who Should Win MVP?

I address the criticism that players who shoot a lot and score a lot do not merit MVP consideration by placing Bryant's season in historical context. Bryant's scoring average has hovered around 35 ppg for most of the year and, with one exception, every player who has averaged 35-plus ppg has finished in the top five in MVP balloting. One could argue that the previous 35 ppg scorers should not have received such strong MVP consideration and that a lot of players could score 35-plus points if they took a lot of shots--but this line of reasoning is faulty because very few players could consistently get off 25-plus field goal attempts a game in the NBA, let alone convert enough of them to score 35 points while also rebounding, passing and defending. It may be true that there are a lot of NBA players who are capable of scoring 35 points in a game but very few are capable of averaging 35 points per game for a season.

The criticism that all Bryant cares about is scoring and that his style of play is not conducive to team success is refuted by the fact that the Lakers have a better winning percentage when Bryant scores 40-plus points than when he scores less than 40 points. He is carrying what otherwise would be a Lottery team to the playoffs.