Chris Paul's bid for this season's MVP award ended Tuesday, when the NBA announced Los Angles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant as the recipient of the honor.

Bryant won the award for the first time, receiving 82 of a possible 126 first-place votes and 1,100 total points. Paul, the Hornets' third-year point guard, finished second with 28 first-place votes and 894 points, and the Boston Celtics' Kevin Garnett finished third with 670.

"It's a great honor," Paul said Tuesday about Bryant's win. "He deserves it. He had an outstanding year."

Bryant played in every regular-season game and averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists, leading his team to 57 wins and the best record in the Western Conference. His 34.4 points per game in the playoffs have helped the Lakers to a 5-0 record this postseason.

Paul, who turned 23 Tuesday, averaged 21.1 points, 11.6 assists and 2.7 steals as the Hornets won 56 regular-season games and grabbed the No. 2 seed in the conference.

"It's been a great battle," Hornets Coach Byron Scott said. "Chris has done himself proud. He's done this organization proud. And like he said the other night, just to be mentioned in that breath when you talk about MVP is an honor. Just turning 23 today, I guess he has a lot more years left in this league hopefully to achieve that goal."

With the regular chants of "MVP!" flowing throughout the New Orleans Arena on Monday night, Paul led the Hornets to their sixth win in seven playoff games and a 2-0 lead against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Paul had 30 points and 12 assists Monday to move his playoff averages to 24.3 points and 12.1 assists.

"I think they're both deserving of it," Hornets center Tyson Chandler said. "Kobe is definitely deserving. He's been the face of this league for a long time now, and this year I think he really proved that he was the MVP. He carried his team. They finished first in the conference. He did an excellent job. But obviously I'd love to see Chris win it, because I thought he was also deserving."

The race for the top spot in the Western Conference -- and possibly the MVP award -- came down to the final regular-season matchup between the Hornets and Lakers, a 107-104 Los Angeles home win on April 11. Bryant had 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Paul finished with 15 points, 17 assists and four steals.

The two teams, however, could meet again in the Western Conference finals, if they both win the series they now lead.

"It's all about winning," Paul said. "The reason I was being mentioned was because our team was doing well. So as long as our team is doing well year in and year out, I'm satisfied with that."

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