RealGM

Who was the best player in the 2008 season?

1.Kobe
2.Paul
3.Garnett
4.Lebron

Chris Paul/LeBron
Kobe
Garnett

garnett i think

The options are Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Steve Nash and LeBron James.

I tend to side with Kevin Garnett here but see strong arguments for Paul, Bryant and James as well.

One of the closest seasons ever at the top imo. 4-6 guys who could all be seen having a case.

This was the first season I thought LeBron was the best player.

Colbinii wrote:The options are Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Steve Nash and LeBron James.

I tend to side with Kevin Garnett here but see strong arguments for Paul, Bryant and James as well.

yeah wondered why Dirk and Nash weren't candidates here. I tend to lean KG as well. I know most have that as peak Paul(I do not fwiw, I think he was better when he was older) and I know Kobe fans love to dwell on this season in addition to 06. And yeah its not too soon for Lebron to have taken the crown.

but I think KG still had all his physical tools, and was finally on a team that was able to turn him lose defensively instead of having to expend so much energy offensively. And I think a KG that is still a very good offensive player of course, but who can defend every possession like his life depends on it is the best KG. I'm a Duncan was better defensively than KG overall guy, but that year? KG was about as good as anyone I've ever gotten to witness(I'm old, but not old enough for Russell).

Kobe was the best player in the 2008 season by a mile over KG and CP3.

It's not like Kobe's team was amazing either as even before they got Pau, the Lakers were playing very well mainly because of Kobe's two-way dominance.

Garnett has no case when you consider the fact that despite playing on a super team as the third option he was getting dragged into seven-game battles against far weaker teams.

If it wasn't for PJ brown in that game seven vs the Cavs people would consider that Celtics team to be one of the biggest failures ever

certainly not anything definitive but out of curiosity, i pulled up the EPM numbers for the contenders:

cp3 8.9
lebron 7.5
kg 6.5
kobe 5.6
dirk 5.4
nash 4.6

(regular season only)

For me personally, the right order for the best player in the 2008 season is.

1 Kobe

2 Lebron

3 CP3

4 KG

Kobe's 2008 playoff run destroys Kg's playoff run despite the fact that Kobe was facing way tougher teams.

Kobe averaged 30.1 ppg 5.7 rpg 5.6 APG 48fg%


To KG's 20.4 PPG,10.5 RPG,3.3 APG, 49.5fg%


Can you seriously imagine the numbers that Kobe would have put up against the Hawks and Cavs plus the Pistons.

He would have destroyed them.


As against the defending champion Spurs who were better than every single Eastern team besides the Celtics.

Kobe averaged 29/6/4 on 58TS% against them.

The Eastern conference in 2008 was laughably weak compared to the West,

As In 2007-08 the Golden State Warriors won 48 games and didn’t make the playoffs.

Plus every Western Conference playoff team that Kobe faced won 50 games.


In comparison, the Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs in the East as the 8 seed at eight games below .500

And they still took the Celtics to seven games.


To say that KG was better than Kobe in 2008 is a laughable take.


But what else can you expect from the KG fanboys on this site who ranked him 11th all time despite him belonging nowhere near the top ten of all-time.

Regular season:
Lebron
Garnett
Paul
Kobe
Dirk

Playoffs:
Kobe
Garnett
Paul
Dirk
Lebron

If Kobe played better in the finals this would be pretty much a nobrainer but as it stands I think Chris Paul had the best overall season.

I have it extremely close between Kobe and Garnett and for now, I'm leaning towards Kobe. Paul and LeBron were great as well, but a tier below to me.

coastalmarker99 wrote:Garnett has no case when you consider the fact that despite playing on a super team as the third option he was getting dragged into seven-game battles against far weaker teams.

Garnett was the best player on Celtics team and I don't see anything "super" with this team in historical sense.

I have KG and Kobe as pretty much a wash.

70sFan wrote:

coastalmarker99 wrote:Garnett has no case when you consider the fact that despite playing on a super team as the third option he was getting dragged into seven-game battles against far weaker teams.

Garnett was the best player on Celtics team and I don't see anything "super" with this team in historical sense.

It's also the first time I've ever seen "third option" used for the highest scoring player on a team.

I'd pick Kobe, but this is one of the rare seasons where you can make arguments for like 5 players.