Ginobili says Parker is NBA’s Best Point Guard

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Depending on who you ask, there'll be three or four names named as who should be NBA's Most Valuable Player and San Antonio Spurs' Tony Parker's name should pop up there in the discussion.

In the discussion on who's the best point guard in the league, that should be an easier conversation that would be broken down into possibly two players.

For Manu Ginobili, the answer is clear on who the best point guard in the league and that's his teammate Parker. In a column he wrote for Argentine site La Nacion.com he praises his teammate for the job he's done running the team so far this year.

We are where we are because the influence of Tony is crucial. Although Tim and I missed about ten games, he always kept the team up and winning. The talk of Chris Paul, who is playing very well, but I think that Tony is the best point guard in the NBA and is playing extraordinary at this moment and is one of the three or four candidates to win the MVP this year.

The talk between Parker and Los Angeles Clippers' point guard Chris Paul has been a big subject in the media that all the major networks and basketball analysts have weighed in from Skip Bayless to Charles Barkley. One thing all parties can agree on is Paul is probably the better court general or leader for the team, but that doesn't automatically make him the better point guard in the position.

If you compare both players' stats, the answer becomes more clearer on who's the better point guard this year.Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Paul is averaging 16ppg, 9.5apg, and 3.5rpg this season and, while those numbers are impressive, they're all career lows for him. His career highs are 18.6ppg, 9.8apg, and 4.4rpg. One argument that could be made in defense for Paul is that the Clippers are a more talent team this season than in the past, but that argument could be made for Parker also.

Tony's MVP-like season of 21.1ppg, 7.6apg, and 3.1rpg are not just impressive for a season, but they're also all career highs for 11 year veteran. He's also averaging a career high in points with a more deep team around him while only averaging .5 minutes more than Chris Paul. Unlike Parker, Paul hasn't carried the team with various injuries to his team like Parker has.

Tony's dealt with injures to Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Stephen Jackson, and Kawhi Leonard from the main rotation while Paul has been the one that's been injured for his team. Parker's 55 games played to Paul's 47 tilts the talk to Parker's favor, especially with how he plays on the court. Parker is shooting 65% (215-329) and taking the majority of his shots in the paint where he tends to get beat up while Paul is shooting 64% (73-115) from restricted area and taking the majority of his shots from the mid range area (89-193).

Ginobili's right and Parker is the clear favorite this season when the stats are examined. He's not only outscoring Paul and leading his team with the best record in the league, but he's also taking the challenge of driving to the paint on the majority of his possessions. There's also no way of saying Tony Parker is an MVP candidate and saying that he's not the best point guard in the league when Paul's name isn't close to the MVP talk.

Parker is clearly the best point guard in the league this season and we'll find out in a few weeks if he gets recognized as the most valuable player in the league also.