LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kobe Bryant has won the NBA's MVP award for
the first time, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site Friday night, citing anonymous sources familiar with the outcome of voting by media members.

The newspaper reported that commissioner David Stern will be in
Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

"We have not been told anything by the league," Lakers spokesman John Black told The Associated Press.

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

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-05-03-08 0027EDT