Shaq: (Kobe) had room to operate cuz I got 3 people on me. I coulda got 3 in a row w/ T-Mac. 2 w/ Vince. 6 w/ steph

[Yank3525]

Would anyone disagree that the 01 spurs were better than the 01 6ers? Too much emphasis is put on the finals mvp because Kobe led the way that series. That notion that he was carried is crazy.

They had a harder time with the Sixers then they did with the Spurs. Philly was a couple plays away from being up 2-0. The notion that Kobe was "carried" in 2001 is dumb, but the narrative that the "real" finals was the WCF that year is inaccurate IMO.

They only had a "harder time" because they were rusty after having a bunch of time off before the finals after running through the west and waiting for Philly to fight it out in the East.

That is the excuse for game 1. But game 2 and 3 went down to the wire. The Spurs series was never competitive.

[flytimes11]

They had a harder time with the Sixers then they did with the Spurs. Philly was a couple plays away from being up 2-0. The notion that Kobe was "carried" in 2001 is dumb, but the narrative that the "real" finals was the WCF that year is inaccurate IMO.

They only had a "harder time" because they were rusty after having a bunch of time off before the finals after running through the west and waiting for Philly to fight it out in the East.

That is the excuse for game 1. But game 2 and 3 went down to the wire. The Spurs series was never competitive.

It wasn’t competitive because Kobe averaged 33 7 and 7 when he had the favorable matchup and Shaq had to deal with Duncan.