Regarded as the NBA's best player for several years but never its most valuable, Bryant earned the honor yesterday after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference.

He called the award a blessing and an honor and emphasized that he wanted another trophy this year.

"It's Hollywood, it's a movie script. The perfect ending would be for us to hold a championship trophy at the end of it," Bryant said at a news conference attended by teammates, club officials, his wife and two daughters.

"This is an award I couldn't have won on my own. I can't thank these guys [his teammates] enough. These are my guys, these are my brothers. Let's get ready for tomorrow."

The Lakers meet Utah in their conference semifinal tonight in a series they lead, one game to none. Bryant will receive the MVP trophy from commissioner David Stern before the game.

A two-time Inquirer player of the year at Lower Merion High School, Bryant entered the NBA draft in 1996, bypassing college. He was taken by the Charlotte Hornets with the No. 13 pick (Allen Iverson went No. 1 that year) and immediately was traded to Los Angeles for Vlade Divac.

Only 17 at the time, Bryant was the first guard ever drafted right out of high school.

Bryant entered the season as the league's two-time defending scoring champion. He had finished third in the MVP voting twice - after the 2002-03 season, when he averaged 30 points for the first time, and last year, when Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki won.

Bryant received 82 first-place votes and 1,105 points in the media vote. He was followed by New Orleans' Chris Paul (28 and 889), Boston's Kevin Garnett (15 and 670), and Cleveland's LeBron James (1 and 438).

Bryant averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.84 steals while playing all 82 games despite tearing a ligament in his right pinkie in February. He put off surgery until after the Olympics.