2002-03 Kobe Bryant vs. 2005-06 Kobe Bryant

[Mr Feeny]

I think he was better in 2003. Not only was he a better playmaker but defender. In his later years, he lost a lot of lateral quickness really fast. If you watch full games you'll have noticed the same thing. He was only a shadow of his 2003 self in 2006. And you could see it against the Suns in the first round. He lost a lot of his explosiveness, the Lakers became the 8th team in history to blow a 3-1 series lead and got blown out by 30 in game 7 where Barbosa (!) outplayed Kobe badly. That wouldn't have happened with 2003 Kobe Bryant. No chance. He wouldn't have gotten embarassed by a bench player.

It sad because I hinestly think he peaked at 24. After the 2003 season, I remember thinking this guy has a legitamte and realistic shot of surpassing Jordan. For some reason he regressed afterwards in my opinion. Maybe the rape trial. Maybe al loss of athleticism. I dont know but im left to wonder what might have been. Nontheless, he'll go down as top 10-15 player and he has to be hapy with that.

[9erempiree]

2002-2003 kobe and it isn't even close, he was still playing within a team concept, whereas 2005 kobe is just the very definition of chucker on a pathetic team.

Maybe he had better stats and great games by casual fan opinion but from a basketball pov he played a selfish game which is inferior to his 2002-2003 game by quite a margin.

05 Kobe was playing within the team and the offense.

It wasn't till Phil went to the media and said he was giving Kobe the green light, in which he went on a tear and a winning streak.

[moe94]

I think he was better in 2003. Not only was he a better playmaker but defender. In his later years, he lost a lot of lateral quickness really fast. If you watch full games you'll have noticed the same thing. He was only a shadow of his 2003 self in 2006. And you could see it against the Suns in the first round. He lost a lot of his explosiveness, the Lakers became the 8th team in history to blow a 3-1 series lead and got blown out by 30 in game 7 where Barbosa (!) outplayed Kobe badly. That wouldn't have happened with 2003 Kobe Bryant. No chance. He wouldn't have gotten embarassed by a bench player.

Barbosa was good, though. He wasn't a scrub.

[ImKobe]

05-06 Kobe was the better scorer by a slight margin
02-03 Kobe was a beast on the defense and a triple double threat every other night, he was a better version of 2013-14 KD.

[Mr Feeny]

05 Kobe was playing within the team and the offense.

It wasn't till Phil went to the media and said he was giving Kobe the green light, in which he went on a tear and a winning streak.

Phil didnt coach the lakers in 2005. They brought him in for the 2006 season.

[Dragonyeuw]

2003 season across the board was better aside from the scoring, and its not like 2003 Kobe was a slouch on that front. This was the first season where I recall the 'next Jordan' thing reaching a fever pitch.... and then the rape trial. For the NBA they were fortunate that Lebron and Wade came along the next year and began to heavily pitch them as 'next Jordans' while Kobe's public image as a face of the league lay in tatters. He recovered and rebuilt that image nicely, though.

[Mr Feeny]

2003 season across the board was better aside from the scoring, and its not like 2003 Kobe was a slouch on that front. This was the first season where I recall the 'next Jordan' thing reaching a fever pitch.... and then the rape trial. For the NBA they were fortunate that Lebron and Wade came along the next year and began to heavily pitch them as 'next Jordans' while Kobe's public image as a face of the league lay in tatters. He recovered and rebuilt that image nicely, though.

This man has pretty much got it spot on.

[9erempiree]

2003 season across the board was better aside from the scoring, and its not like 2003 Kobe was a slouch on that front. This was the first season where I recall the 'next Jordan' thing reaching a fever pitch.... and then the rape trial. For the NBA they were fortunate that Lebron and Wade came along the next year and began to heavily pitch them as 'next Jordans' while Kobe's public image as a face of the league lay in tatters. He recovered and rebuilt that image nicely, though.

His image was so clean. Everyone loved him and right when the accusations came out, it was downhill from there.

Not saying, the comparison to MJ wasn't deserved, but the haters came out in full force the next year and destroyed him.

If it wasn't for that trial....he would be easily top 2 player with MJ. Sadly, only the real fans have him there and you can't say that about the casuals or haters. If it wasn't for that trial, he would be MJ of our era and we wouldn't have seen the Lebron hype train.

[Lebron23]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS3iJ20Q4bg

I have to go with 2003 Kobe Bryant. Kobe was still an elite defensive player during that time.

[WhiteKyrie]

I really enjoyed his 2002-03 season, especially that 9 game 40+ pts streak but it is hard to go against his 2005-06 season. He lead the league in scoring by a large margin and some of his games were unimaginable, the 62pts in 3qtrs., and of course the 81 point game to name a few. I enjoyed both seasons but I'll give the edge to the 05-06 season, I feel Kobe was more in his prime then.

Large margin? Kobe averaged 35 a game and Iverson averaged 33 a game? I agree with what you’re saying but umm

[WhiteKyrie]

I think he was better in 2003. Not only was he a better playmaker but defender. In his later years, he lost a lot of lateral quickness really fast. If you watch full games you'll have noticed the same thing. He was only a shadow of his 2003 self in 2006. And you could see it against the Suns in the first round. He lost a lot of his explosiveness, the Lakers became the 8th team in history to blow a 3-1 series lead and got blown out by 30 in game 7 where Barbosa (!) outplayed Kobe badly. That wouldn't have happened with 2003 Kobe Bryant. No chance. He wouldn't have gotten embarassed by a bench player.

It sad because I hinestly think he peaked at 24. After the 2003 season, I remember thinking this guy has a legitamte and realistic shot of surpassing Jordan. For some reason he regressed afterwards in my opinion. Maybe the rape trial. Maybe al loss of athleticism. I dont know but im left to wonder what might have been. Nontheless, he'll go down as top 10-15 player and he has to be hapy with that.

The hell are you smoking?

Barbosa - 13 ppg 1 rpg 2 apg on 52%

Kobe - 28 ppg 6 rpg 5 apg on 50%

Outplayed?

Badly?

[ArbitraryWater]

The hell are you smoking?

Barbosa - 13 ppg 1 rpg 2 apg on 52%

Kobe - 28 ppg 6 rpg 5 apg on 50%

Outplayed?

Badly?

He is talking about game 7.

Which is funny because Kobe had a terrible 2nd half in the '03 elimination game also.

[WhiteKyrie]

He is talking about game 7.

Which is funny because Kobe had a terrible 2nd half in the '03 elimination game also.

Well his 2nd half was an eff you to Phil and the Front Office showcasing the severe lack of reliable talent around him.

Phil wanted him to continue to play decoy and facilitator.

Kobe checked out of that in game 6 with his 50 piece that was a fluky and lucky Phoenix long rebound away from winning the series.

And by that point, Kobe playing facilitator wasn’t working and had been adapted to by Phoenix.

To start the game he scored like 21 or 23 in the first half, bro. SMH.

[3ba11]

Who's the better Kobe??

2002-03 Kobe Bryant



Kobe finished 3rd in MVP Voting in the 2002-03 NBA Season after he averaged 30.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.9 apg, 2.2 spg, and 0.8 bpg.

His playoffs stats were 32.2 ppg on 43.3 FG%,5.1 rpg, 5.3 apg, 1.2 bpg, and 0.1 bpg.

2005-06 Kobe Bryant



Kobe finished in 4th place in MVP Voting after he averaged 35.4 ppg on 45 FG%, 4.3 rpg, 4.5 apg. 1.8 spg, 0.1 bpg in the regular season.

His playoffs numbers were 27.9 ppg on 49.7 FG%, 6.3 rpg, 5.1 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg.

The 06' playoff numbers confirm how hard it is to face maximum defensive attention (carry scoring load - no equal-scoring partner to attract equal defensive attention)

[Hey Yo]

The 06' playoff numbers confirm how hard it is to face maximum defensive attention (carry scoring load - no equal-scoring partner to attract equal defensive attention)

Yep.... see the 09 ECF where James outscored his 2nd option by an avg of 20ppg.