What Was Kobe's Best Year?

[myersia]

Kobe says he played his best basketball in 12-13. I did love me some "magic mamba" before he went down. With Kobe about to retire his jerseys what season was his best in your opinion? You can argue stats or just based on his play. Off the top of my head without looking at stats 01-02, 06-07, 09-10 come to mind. What do you think was mamba's best year?

[Michael Lucky]

Kobe says he played his best basketball in 12-13. I did love me some "magic mamba" before he went down. With Kobe about to retire his jerseys what season was his best in your opinion? You can argue stats or just based on his play. Off the top of my head without looking at stats 01-02, 06-07, 09-10 come to mind. What do you think was mamba's best year?

02-03. To me. People rarely mention it, because the team failed expectations miserably, but Kobe had to pretty much carry the team because Shaq decided he didn't need to play the regular season. It's interchangeable with 05-06, but 02-03 was probably the most balanced season offensively and defensively i saw from Kobe.

[ROballer]

I still remember that final stretch of 12-13, in which we went 6-1 with him(8-1 overall) to creep into the playoffs.

During that 7 game stretch in which he played, Kobe aged almost 35, played 48, 47, 43, 47, 41, 48 and 45 minutes the game he ruptured his achilles.

Two days before the injury, he had on of the most underrated games of his career, playing 48:00 minutes, not a single second of rest, for 47 pts 8 reb 5 ast 3 stl and 4 blks and a tough win at Rose Garden, where we rarely ever won. Aged almost 35.

[TylersLakers]

I loved that stretch in 2012-13. One thing I always think of is after the game on the road vs Portland where he had insane numbers and won a close game. I remember sitting on my couch and just appreciating that game so much because I told myself there wouldn't be many more games like that. Instead of being happy about the win, I was sad. Because I knew it would be ending. And then I think he tore his Achilles the next game.

But as far as the answer to the question. That first year back with Phil. 2005-2006. He was an absolute assassin. That team had next to no talent after him and Lamar. Smush Parker, Chris Mihm and Devean George were in the starting line-up. Like, good god.

[Beethoven]

Too many years to count. I would say his historical years of 05 through 07 particularly stands out for me

[Biased_Fan6425]

09-10 for me.

[Wavy Q]

2002-2003 Kobe was the best of it all, athleticism to go to the basket, mid range game still on point, his best 3 point shooting season, All-NBA 1st team level defense. That Kobe was out of his mind

[NPZ]

Kobe says he played his best basketball in 12-13. I did love me some "magic mamba" before he went down. With Kobe about to retire his jerseys what season was his best in your opinion? You can argue stats or just based on his play. Off the top of my head without looking at stats 01-02, 06-07, 09-10 come to mind. What do you think was mamba's best year?

02-03. To me. People rarely mention it, because the team failed expectations miserably, but Kobe had to pretty much carry the team because Shaq decided he didn't need to play the regular season. It's interchangeable with 05-06, but 02-03 was probably the most balanced season offensively and defensively i saw from Kobe.

I agree on the Kobe part and I made sure to bring up 2002/03 in the GB poll (the peachfuzzed Millennial OP didn't add that year to the poll). As I said out in the GB, we were threadbare from 3-12. Horry, Fox and B-Shaw were older. For some reason, Horry had a terrible year from the arc. He dipped to .288 in the RS and .005! in the playoffs and missed the season hinging shot he was paid not to miss. Rob hitting the shot in 2002 justified everything else. He didn't do it in 2003. It's true that they jumped the gun and thought he was over because he hit that huge shot again for SA, but 2/38 in the playoffs? I don't blame the FO for thinking he was done.

Ulrich Alexander Fox (aka: Rick) was as bad in 2002 as he was in 2003, but he was there for the full playoff run and played well in Gm7 in Sac, which, as with Horry, justified everything else. In 2003, he didn't play beyond Minny. He was done. In 2004, he was in Luol Deng territory and I used to hate when Phil would play him. I remember him dropping a game winning layup outta bounds in 2004 at Philly. That was the sign he was officially over, but he had already been slipping noticeably for the last 3 years of his career. To make up for what Fox and Horry had lost, we had Dunskie Devean and Samaki and Madsen and Slava. Vomitworthy roster beyond the two superstars. There was no one beyond the starters who averaged 20 mins a game. The starters had to carry the great majority of the load. That's a loootta broz who couldn't reliably put the ball in the hoop. We had become the early 90s Utah Jazz (2 superstars trying to polish 10 other teammate turdz).

As far as Shaq was concerned, he missed the 15, most of which for turf toe, but he avg'd 28/11/3 in the RS and 27/15/4/3 in the playoffs. Shaq was not the prob. We were 19-23 on 1/24/03. Kobe turned his game UP after that. Basically, even Kobe and Shaq weren't winning for us anymore. Phil's desire to keep Kobe restrained and Shaq at 1A was finally vanquished out of dire necessity. Kobe going on that scoring streak was the offensive boost the team needed to finish with 50 wins. I think Shaq even knew it because he didn't beef that year about Kobe's shot attempts.

Beyond that, Kobe's bulked up physique that year made him slower, but he was Super Kobe. An altered beast. Loved his power jams that year. He had Kemp power then. The ball would spike off the floor a few times after powering it thru. He was hitting loads of freakshots, it seemed. I remember one vs NY where he took off at the arc and floated beyond the line as far as he could while shooting it with high arc finesse. Tough ass shot. You rarely see guys leap over the line like that lest it's a game winning attempt and they have to do that in order to avoid a block (a la Nick at SA in 95). Allan Houston scored 53 that night otherwise we woulda won. Houston was pure that night. Bastard.

Makes me wistful thinking about that entire decade. Tons of huge games. Memories galore.

[TyCobb]

Do you guys know why Kobe said that? Because he had to play two different styles that year. The first half he was normal Kobe, but the second half after Dwight kept half-assing it on the court because he bitched about his touches Kobe flipped into PG mode. The first 42 games of the season? 1 double digit assist game... Games 43-80.... 10 double digit assist games (14, 14, 11, 11, 12, 12, 11, 14, 11, 10) and 6 games he had 9 assists...

This is the point in Kobe's career where he did EVERYTHING possible he could to help his team accomplish what they were SUPPOSED to accomplish. However, with Dwight acting like a bitch, and Nash done, Kobe did what it took to get him team into the playoffs. He was incredible that year and I'll never forgive Dwight for sabotaging the season, and ultimately, what turned out to be his career. It shouldn't have ever been as hard as it was that year...

[Dr Aki]

2009/10

Who can forget 6 straight game winners?

Spoiler:

[Beethoven]

There were a few seasons where he was absolutely magical. Every game had some sort of crazy awesome Kobe moment that turned the game around.
I remember my wife would always anticipate that moment in the game or just that spree of precision jump shots that were maybe not infallible but were so exhilarating for us to watch.

[Kilroy]

I was never than enamored with Kobe... I've said that time and time again on here, so forgive me if it sounds trite... But I was a Magic fan, and it took me years and years to finally appreciate Kobe...
For me 12-13 was maybe the turning point... Like Ty said, when he flipped the switch and started picking up where Steve Nash left off, it was some of the best basketball I've ever seen from him...

But for me, nothing defined Kobes game and career more than his final 60pt performance... I've never seen anything like that before... Everybody was watching and he was surrounded by scrubs, and he went out and did something very few players in the history of the sport could have done, especially in the final game of their careers...
And as the clock wound down on the 4th quarter of that game, I think I finally got it... The noise fell away and I finally understood how to appreciate and recognize the full breadth of his greatness...
So 2016 for me...

[dAdo dA dEvil]

Hard to pick because Kobe always gives his best every game and that last game is AMAZING. I feel like every year is his best year.

[Spanish_Laker]

05-06 Kobe was the best IMO. He took a bottom-feeder team to the playoffs and we could have gone to the NBA Finals if Tim Thomas hadn't hit that cursed 3-pointer. In those years Kobe was by far the best player in the league and should have won back-to-back MVPs instead of the league-protégée Steve Nash.

[TheHartBreakKid]

I really sincerely think that 2006/2007(after he got his legs back in the second half the season) were a different level of dominant. We are blessed to have had a player with so many options for this question, and while I agree that Kobe in 06/07 wasn't at his mental prime as a basketball player, I think he was just on a whole other level.



That said, when you factor in mental growth and team success, it's hard to vote against 2008 Kobe. No chip, but he was a monster that season. Lockdown defender, elite scorer, and at his best in terms of picking his spots imo. I just think his level of dominance from the previous two years was one step higher, but a better mental approach and a far better supporting cast lead to more team success. BUT, another plus for 2008 Kobe is the fact he was playing some amazing team ball/balanced game even before Pau got there..... He just seemed more mature that year.


Man, it's such a tough question.

I think 2003 was his physical peak.

2006 was his most dominant version regarding the gap between him and the rest of the league, but the mental game hadn't reached it's peak yet. Percentages might not support it, but I think 2006 was him at his best as a shooter...2006 was when his skills peaked imo.

2008 was the most balanced version of him in terms of athleticism, dominance in comparison to the rest of the league in terms of skill, and dominance in comparison to the rest of the league in terms of his mental approach.


2013 was his mental peak. He had lost significant athletisicm at that point, and while he was obviously extremely skilled, I think he did most of his damage by simply being on another level mentally. I don't think comparing to 2006 (or 2008) Kobe to 2013 Kobe, there are necessarily any improvements in terms of actual skill.. Maybe some post moves and foot work refinement but it was very minor. The fact that he played as well as he did despite his noticeable athletic drop compared to those years is largely due to him outsmarting defenders. He wasn't getting space from just elevation and teams respecting the drive...he was getting space due to impeccable timing.

[ardee]

Either 2006 or 2008 IMO.

I'd say they were about equal, he just had better team-mates in 2008. 2007 was a tiny notch below, his injuries in the early part of the season made him less fluid.

Honestly I'd say 2008 was the most fluid he'd ever been athletically.