Was Kobe's wasted peak (06-07) karma for 2004?

[Legends66NBA7]

Yeah, just like Lebrick.

Don't you like LeBron ?

[kizut1659]

it always makes me laugh when people say kobe wasted his peak... if anything.. he was able to showcase his tallent the way we would never have been able to see if he was always on a contender... 2006 and 2007 were some of the best games hes ever played.. i think 5 of his 60+ point games came from that time... his 81... his 65, his 63 in 3 qtrs


his prime was 2006-2010...

06 and 07 he showcased his individual play
08, 09 and 10 he showcased his leadership and ability to lead a winner


if he did just one of those things we never woulda saw both. and sometimes it takes rebuilding or a losing season to get some good picks or trades

and because of it they got marc gasol that turned into pau gasol... and bynum that turned into a great player... and odom that eventually turned into steve nash

so i aint complaining

the pistons beating LA and forcing them to rebuild sooner than later ended up heavily in kobes favor and boosted his alltime status by letting him prove himself without shaq

2005-2006 was already his 10th year in the league and his atheticism was already beginning to decline. He should have had much better 2003 and 2004 seasons.

[Heavincent]

I'd say Kobe was still at this peak in 09 and 10 anyway. He carried his team to 3 straight Finals appearances and 2 championships, so how can you say he wasn't still at his peak?

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

To answer your question, I would say yes and no. Could Kobe's legacy have been dramatically different (in a positive way) had he and Shaq put their bullshit aside? Yes. Were his individual scoring performances unimpressive? No, but not winning titles, as I previously said, hindered his legacy to some degree.

BTW, Kobe's peak was from '06-08; his prime: '01-10.

[caliman]

2005-2006 was already his 10th year in the league and his atheticism was already beginning to decline. He should have had much better 2003 and 2004 seasons.

He averaged 30/7/6/2 on 45/84/38 shooting in 2003. That was probably his best all around season. How could he have been better?

[LA_Showtime]

I think Kobe would have put up those type of numbers prior to what you call his peak years. The only reason he didn't score as much was because he had Shaq on his team.

[NumberSix]

I'd say Kobe was still at this peak in 09 and 10 anyway. He carried his team to 3 straight Finals appearances and 2 championships, so how can you say he wasn't still at his peak?

[Vienceslav]

Sometimes good players are just stuck on bad teams , it happens.
Kobe was in 7 finals so i

[LA_Showtime]

He has an argument for the 09-10 season. Kobe was averaging like 32 points on +50% shooting through 30 some games. Then he got injured and obviously ended up having surgery on his knee over the summer. The broken finger didn't help either, nor did the fact he was forced back to the perimeter after Gasol/Bynum came back.

[Heavincent]

How did he not carry his team? He was clearly the best player by far.

[UtahJazzFan88]

This. Only real special players can lead scrub teams deep into the playoffs, Kobe just found that his all round game just wasn't good enough.

Someone tell me a roster as AWFUL as Kobe's 2006-2007 roster. I don't think LeBron's Cleveland rosters are as bad. Wade had a bad roster in 2009-10 but not sure this bad either.

The only player worth ANYTHING is Lamar Odom, everyone else except Bynum on occasion were absolutely awful.

[LA_Showtime]

Someone tell me a roster as AWFUL as Kobe's 2006-2007 roster. I don't think LeBron's Cleveland rosters are as bad. Wade had a bad roster in 2009-10 but not sure this bad either.

The only player worth ANYTHING is Lamar Odom, everyone else except Bynum on occasion were absolutely awful.

He also played in the Western Conference. I see no reason why he wouldn't have got to the Conference Semifinals or even Finals in the East.

[Vienceslav]

Doubting that having Smush Parker and Kwame Brown as your starters is not that awful really exceeds the decent trolling limits.

[The Iron Fist]

To answer your question, I would say yes and no. Could Kobe's legacy have been dramatically different (in a positive way) had he and Shaq put their bullshit aside? Yes. Were his individual scoring performances unimpressive? No, but not winning titles, as I previously said, hindered his legacy to some degree.

BTW, Kobe's peak was from '06-08; his prime: '01-10.

The guy is 5-2 in the finals and thats not impressive? Let me guess, going 1-2 is.

[The Iron Fist]

He also played in the Western Conference. I see no reason why he wouldn't have got to the Conference Semifinals or even Finals in the East.

If that 07 team faced . 500 teams in the first two rounds its not that hard to believe they may have reached the finals as well.


Not one but two five hundred teams in the playoffs. Is that supposed to be some grand achievement?