Did Shaq really carry Kobe

[LuCKy_JuNiOr]

FG% has nothing to do with he is a 7ft 340pound guy that just dunks and shoots 3 ft hooks. Since when is a center and a 2 guard suppose to be compared on FG%. I guess you can say Kobe carried Bynum to the top of FG% in the league until he got hurt. Kobe haters are so damn cute

Kobe shot 4-20 and 8-27 in Games 5 and 6 of the 99-00 series. That's horrible. He also shot 7-22 in Game 1 of the 00-01 series.

He scored 30 three times in 14 games. In those games he shot 23/23/30 shots. Shaq scored 43 points on 31 shots.

[Killer_Instinct]

No.....Slava Medvenko was carried. Kobe actually contributed.

[gts]

shaq was the number one option in an offense designed to use his unique skill sets, every player on the team's roster played a role in making sure the system went through shaq first... that being said did shaq carry the lakers?

lets look at win shares, the only true value of a players worth on a team and how many wins that can be attributed to that players performance
and lets look at them for the season because A. i can't find the for just the playoffs so we'll look at the season and the playoffs combined B because a championship is not won on the post season alone

99 2000 season
shaq 58 win shares
kobe 33 win shares

2000-01
shaq 49
kobe 37

2001-02
shaq 38
kobe 37

2002-03
shaq 40
kobe 45

so we can see that shaq did carry the team to titles, but he certainly did not do it alone

[miller-time]

Shaq was the main reason they won. Yes that is true. But no one man can win it by himself. I dont care about the stats. No Kobe=No titles. Plain and simple. You can argue all you want that Shaq "carried" him but thats just not true. Both were needed to 3-peat.

replace kobe with someone else like iverson would they have won? yes. without another star/superstar? maybe not.

[RoseCity07]

Not going to read your post, not going to go over the numbers anymore, the answer to this question is YES.

[LuCKy_JuNiOr]

it has nothing to do with you.

Just thought you were a Lakers fan by coincidence

Oh, . I suppose I had a chance to be, but something about KJ caught my attention to the Suns. Living in Vegas with no sports team is kind of lame. Also I was born in Syracuse, New York, but moved at age 4.

[YAWN]

Mhh.. IHMO they complemeted each other, no real "carrying" being done. Perfect fit for that season.

I agree. However Shaq was definitely the bigger reason they won. Kobe had his moments but the only real series i can recall KB playing better than shaq in would be 2000-2001? WCF against the Spurs, He averaged around 34 while shaq averaged around 25.

[ihatetimthomas]

replace kobe with someone else like iverson would they have won? yes. without another star/superstar? maybe not.

You never know...I didnt say Kobe was the reason they won. I said he was needed along w/ shaq to win. People keep trying to say Shaq carried him or Kobe was the reason, but fact is, they won it together and wouldnt have won w/o each other. They couldve won a title w/ AI and Shaq, but I believe, and this is my opinion, that they wouldn't have been as dominate. The diff. is is Kobe is a premier defender and AI is not. Kobe got it done on both ends of the court while defending the opposing teams best wing player

[Jorn444Lakers]

Kobe shot 4-20 and 8-27 in Games 5 and 6 of the 99-00 series. That's horrible. He also shot 7-22 in Game 1 of the 00-01 series.

He scored 30 three times in 14 games. In those games he shot 23/23/30 shots. Shaq scored 43 points on 31 shots.

And shaq was shooting long-range jumpers of course.

But anyways, I don't think you're going to get an argument from any reasonable laker fan that shaq was the best player on that team and was their number 1 go-to guy.

Where I tend to draw the line is when people say shaq "carried" kobe to a title like kobe was some scrub role-player who rode shaq's back all the way to every title. Like someone said earlier, both players complimented eachother. If you actually WATCHED THE ****ING GAMES, you can see that kobe had some HUGE games against WC foes, and a lot of times "carried" the team when shaq was out with foul trouble in the fourth and shaq couldn't be counted on to not be counted on to make free throws. I actually watched those games, and both players played an important role and fed off each other. Stats never tell the whole story. Kobe was still one of the most dynamic and best in the league when he was playing with shaq.

And like someone said earlier, i don't take shooting % into account when you are comparing the two because one is a sg and one is a C... taking totally different shots.

[BIGSHOT]

Kobe was every bit as important as shaq.

[LuCKy_JuNiOr]

replace kobe with someone else like iverson would they have won? yes. without another star/superstar? maybe not.

Exactly my point, you can take Kobe off the team and add per-say Allen Iverson. Or a prime Grant Hill. And the Lakers still win titles.

If you take Shaq out, you got nothing.

[Jorn444Lakers]

Exactly my point, you can take Kobe off the team and add per-say Allen Iverson. Or a prime Grant Hill. And the Lakers still win titles.

If you take Shaq out, you got nothing.

Take shaq out and replace him with who though?

And yes, they would win a title or two, but not be as dominant. Kobe was always the closer for that team and guarded the other teams pest perimiter player

[LuCKy_JuNiOr]

You never know...I didnt say Kobe was the reason they won. I said he was needed along w/ shaq to win. People keep trying to say Shaq carried him or Kobe was the reason, but fact is, they won it together and wouldnt have won w/o each other. They couldve won a title w/ AI and Shaq, but I believe, and this is my opinion, that they wouldn't have been as dominate. The diff. is is Kobe is a premier defender and AI is not. Kobe got it done on both ends of the court while defending the opposing teams best wing player

Shaq already won another title without Kobe, he won it with another "star" at the 2 Guard position. And Shaq wasn't even in his prime. Kobe hasn't won one without Shaq, yet.

[YAWN]

Exactly my point, you can take Kobe off the team and add per-say Allen Iverson. Or a prime Grant Hill. And the Lakers still win titles.

If you take Shaq out, you got nothing.

i can do that too...take Shaq off the team and add per-say Tim Duncan. Or a prime Hakeem. And the Lakers still win titles.

[LuCKy_JuNiOr]

i can do that too...take Shaq off the team and add per-say Tim Duncan. Or a prime Hakeem. And the Lakers still win titles.

You're adding a player that would have been better than Kobe Bryant in those years. I am adding players who aren't superior to Shaq but still good.

Add someone who was around Kobe's talent level or PPG in any of those seasons. Then you can ask yourself if they would have won.