Black20Ice
Star Player
Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 1860
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:19 pm Post subject: Ranking Kobe Bryant's five NBA title-winning postseasons |
|
|
| Quote: | 2001: Almost perfect
Postseason stats: 29.4 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1.6 SPG
Playoff run: Def. Blazers 3-0; def. Kings 4-0; def. Spurs 4-0; def. 76ers 4-1
The Lakers capped the most dominant postseason run in NBA history -- a 15-1 evisceration of their playoff competition -- with Bryant outdueling fellow 1996 draftee Allen Iverson to win a second championship. And Bryant did it in his hometown against the Philadelphia 76ers. He shook off a 7-for-22 shooting performance in Game 1 of the Finals -- when a Herculean effort from Iverson handed the Lakers their only loss that postseason -- to average 27 points over the remainder of the title round. He played all but 33 seconds of Game 2 and the entire 48 minutes of Game 3 to help the Lakers reclaim the series lead. He then showed off the versatility of his skill set to close the series with 10 rebounds and nine assists in Game 4 and 12 boards and six dimes in Game 5.
Earlier that postseason, he put up 48 points and 16 rebounds in 48 minutes to complete a sweep of the Kings in the second round. He followed that up with 45 points and 10 rebounds in 46 minutes and 53 seconds to go up 1-0 on the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals. The only thing that made the brilliance of a 22-year-old Bryant seem less impressive was O'Neal absolutely destroying opposing defenses at that stage of his career. |
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29021188/ranking-kobe-bryant-five-nba-title-winning-postseasons |
|
