NBA Analyst Points to Vintage Kobe Bryant Playoff Run as His Best

Kobe Bryant had a great peak, but he is more well known for his consistent excellence through 17 seasons, pre-Achilles tear.

NBA Analyst Points to Vintage Kobe Bryant Playoff Run as His Best

Kobe Bryant (Firstsportz Image)

Kobe Bryant has always been one of the most polarizing players in NBA history. The Lakers legend was almost universally beloved for the first seven years of his career. Winning three straight championships along Shaquille O’Neal on the most popular NBA team other than the Chicago Bulls was a big part of that. But Bryant was appearing on reality shows, late night shows, releasing albums and selling out merch.

There was little that Bryant didn’t have going for him. But then the 2003 offseason happened, when he was alleged to have assaulted a woman in his hotel room. Despite coming out with a clean chit in the court proceedings, Bryant’s image took a beating that he never really recovered from for the rest of his career.

Many journalists and players believe that he lost the chance to win a couple of MVP trophies due to the bad publicity from this. Some also believe that the most memorable phase of his career was on the threepeat team alongside Shaq. Former ESPN analyst and pundit Bomani Jones certainly seems to think so.

Speaking on his YouTube live show The Right Time with Bomani Jones, Jones laid out the case for 2001 Kobe Bryant as one of the greatest players to ever exist, and the best version of him that the public has seen through the course of his 20-year career:

I do think Shaq is a better player. But go look at Kobe in the ’01 playoffs. He was as good as anybody has ever been. He was better in the two series before that (the Finals versus Philadelphia) when they ran the Spurs out. Like it was so bad there’s no point in trying to remember who it was, right? That, to me, there was never a better version of Kobe than that version of him. Even if that version of him was at 22 years old.

Bomani Jones mused

How does 2000-01 stack up with the best Kobe Bryant seasons?

There is undoubtedly a case to be made that Bryant was at the peak of his powers at just 22 years of age. Younger Kobe Bryant was more explosive, but he also had many of the scoring skills that set him apart. His handle was more adventurous, his off-the-dribble moves were more fluid and unpredictable, and he played with more explosiveness during his first few NBA seasons out of high school.

Bryant put together some spectacular outings against the Sacramento Kings in the Western Conference semifinals. He backed that up with more 40-point outings against the San Antonio Spurs, who had David Robinson and Tim Duncan to slow down O’Neal. The Lakers ended up winning both series with sweeps. They entered the Finals on an 11-0 winning streak. After dropping game 1, they would proceed to win four straight games.

Shaquille O’Neal was adjudged the Finals MVP after averaging 33 points per game and dominating Dikembe Mutombo. However, Bryant also had his high-profile moments, notably slowing Allen Iverson down in the remainder of the Finals.

Bryant’s 2001 playoff run saw him averaging 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. It also features his best defensive efforts, and vintage outings like a 48-point game against the Spurs. He had all kinds of swagger on display during this era of Lakers hoops. However, many fans will likely rank 02-03 Bryant, 05-06 Bryant and 08-09 Bryant above this version, despite the numbers.

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