THE BOX OUT PICK AND POPS 1. As long as his shoulders are squared, Reggie Miller can still make a clutch shot, as he proved Tuesday night with a 3-pointer to force overtime in Memphis. And, as long as the Pacers have Miller, they have a shot at making the Finals. 2. It's high tide again for the Gunning Celtics, who shot .369 on 3-pointers (69 of 187) in winning five of six. QUOTE OF THE DAY “Since I suffered the injury on company time, why shouldn't I also be able to get surgery and do recovery on company time? If a regular worker gets injured and sick on his job, do they force him to use his vacation time to have an operation and to get well?" —Shaquille O'Neal defending his decision to delay his toe surgery. NUMBER OF THE DAY 4 The number of operations Grant Hill will have had on his left ankle when this latest operation is performed. TRASH TALK You had your say. So here are the best comments: I never liked Kobe before. I saw him as a really cocky guy whose success came from Shaq. But he's proving me wrong with the kind of games he's having now. He's carrying the Lakers with Shaq on the bench. Right now, yes, he is the MVP. Kerrel Murray, Covington, Ga. Like everything in life, his turn to lead has come. The first three years, under Phil Jackson, Shaq was meant to lead since he was the focus of the offense. ... Someone else has had to step up. Yes, the kid that had a big ego with great skills has had to put aside both his ego and pain to help the Lakers make such a run at the playoffs. Chey Rodriguez, Humacao, Puerto Rico I never liked Jordan when he had his first three championships, but he was so good I just had to watch him and I grew to like him. The same goes for Kobe. I didn't like him the last three years, but now he has been putting on a show that people have to watch. Mark Pero, Houghton, Mich. Kobe is not the MVP of the NBA. Scoring 52 points in double overtime does not impress me. It should have been over in regulation if he would just pass out of double teams to the open man. He may be the most outstanding player, but he does not improve the players around him like a Jason Kidd does. Kevin Garnett is the MVP of the NBA. Michael Doering, Appleton, Wis. If KG doesnt win the MVP award this year, then they should stop giving it out! Mike Christensen, Minneapolis

It would be an amazing accomplishment, really -- Kobe Bryant winning the Most Valuable Player award.

Because, when was the last time a write-in candidate won the MVP?

The initial thought of the ever-changing short list of MVP frontrunners doesn't include Bryant with Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Jason Kidd. He simply doesn't do as much heavy lifting as The Overburdened Three, who fill stat sheets night in and night out to make sure their teams will play ball in late April.

Remember, Bryant benefits from a 7-foot-1, 340-pound heat conductor named Shaquille O'Neal, who takes an opponent's focus and allows Bryant to abuse people with his one-on-one skills. Because of that luxury/albatross, Bryant will never win the MVP with Shaq active and wearing purple and gold.

That was the case with Kobe until Tuesday night.

With O'Neal's sore left knee and aching right big toe (yeah, that again), Bryant earned an audition for the part as an MVP candidate against Houston. He scored a season-high 52 points. He sat only four minutes of a 58-minute, double-overtime affair. And he contributed eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocks -- doing all of that with his own sore knee. More importantly, the Lakers won 106-99 over the Rockets, the team L.A. is trying to overtake for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff berth.

The victory bumped the Lakers' season record without Shaq to an embarrassing 4-10 -- 3-9 of it occurring the season's first month when O'Neal took time to recover from his better-late-than-never toe surgery and Bryant took as many shots as he pleased and got criticized for it. But if Bryant turns in another virtuoso performance for the Shaq-less Lakers tonight in Utah and if the Lakers pull ahead of the Rockets for the No. 8 spot and if the champs never look back on their once-lottery brethren … well, Kobe can't be discounted from MVP consideration then, right?

It's not like Bryant cares about individual honors. After all, the last time he won an MVP award (at the 2002 All-Star Game), he got booed in his own hometown. But, like that bald-headed guy he's so often compared with, Bryant loves to compete -- or hates to lose. This challenge of carrying the Lakers, without O'Neal at least, will be put on hold Friday when Shaq expects to come back. Still, the opportunity for Bryant to carve his own niche is there. Why wait until Shaq rides off into retirement in a customized sheriff's car, when Bryant can write the prologue to his career's second chapter, "There Is Life After Shaq."

But how long can Kobe keep this up, this 35-points-or-more-every-night trick? He is only 24, but that body is not your typical 24-year-old body. It bears the extra mileage of 85 games in the playoffs, where the wear and tear is just as taxing on the mind. It's a good thing Kobe bulked up in the offseason. Little did he know those 15 extra pounds of muscle would be needed to keep a proud organization from sinking into mediocrity.

The caveat to Bryant's MVP worthiness is this: the Lakers have to make the playoffs in order for Bryant to be considered. That same condition has temporarily kept Tracy McGrady from being mentioned in MVP discussions.

However, not even his first MVP award or fourth world championship could top what Bryant is experiencing right now for the first time: fatherhood. When he's asked about his baby daughter Natalia, Bryant's face brightens and his eyes light up.

Who knows? Maybe the Bryant family can expect a newborn MVP, too.

Joe Lago, the NBA editor for ESPN.com, writes the Morning Shootaround every Wednesday and occasionally on Friday.