MVP Bryant has fans in Utah camp

LOS ANGELES — When word leaked late Friday that Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant will win NBA MVP honors this year, it came as no great surprise to the Jazz.

"I don't pay attention to that," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said Saturday as the Jazz prepared to face Bryant and the Lakers in today's Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series. "But he's the logical choice, because his team has done well and he's having a great year."

"He was the MVP," Jazz All-Star Carlos Boozer added. "The way his team played, the way he played — he's probably been the best player in the game for the last few years, but finally he deserved it. And I'm happy for him."

Even Jazz point guard Deron Williams, a friend of New Orleans point and likely top-three finisher Chris Paul, seemed to think the media voters got this one right.

"I think he deserves it," Williams said of Bryant. "I don't know how he didn't get it when he (scored) 81 that year (in the 2005-06 season) and had like 10 (50-point games) in a row. So, I mean, it's well overdue."

KORVER'S EX-LOVE: Before moving to Iowa, Kyle Korver's family lived in California. His birth city, in fact, is Lakewood, which is only about 22 miles away from the Staples Center.

It shouldn't come as a shock, then, that the Jazz's backup shooting guard cheered on the local NBA team — and, no, it wasn't the Los Angeles Clippers.

Korver admitted at Saturday's shootaround that he "was a huge Lakers fan" as a kid.

"I grew up watching 'Showtime' basketball," he said. "Magic (Johnson) and Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Byron Scott, James Worthy, Michael Cooper — it was fun."

Jazz fans needn't worry about his loyalties now, though.

"I've kind of gotten past that," he said about his passion for the purple and gold. "They're the enemy now, so to say."

Still, Korver is excited to play in Los Angeles — for childhood reasons, and because he might have his own cheering section for some of the road games in the second-round series.

"I still have a lot of family there," he said, "so I always enjoy coming back."

NO COMPARISON: One parting shot from Houston comes courtesy of veteran Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo, who is as familiar with the Jazz of old as he is with that of the present.