John Jackson, Chicago Sun Times

Not long ago, one candidate appeared to be the inevitable winner and was practically anointed by the media. But now, that candidate is struggling to stay in the race as another has made a stunning push to become the new front-runner.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama contending for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party?

No, I’m talking about the race for the NBA’s most valuable player award, where Kobe Bryant has made a late charge to overtake Kevin Garnett.

Actually, Bryant has been the league’s best player the last few seasons but hasn’t won the award because many media members have turned the vote into a popularity contest. They don’t like Bryant, so they found reasons to vote for other candidates.

That’s going to be more difficult this season. Bryant is having another fabulous season and led the Los Angeles Lakers to 10 consecutive wins to take over the top spot in the rugged Western Conference heading into Friday night’s game at Portland.

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