Kobe Bryant's Prime 2005 to 2010

[G-Funk]

To me a player peaks when he's on top physically, with a combination of peaked skills and leadership.

[laronprofit9]

Are we watching the same Kobe? There is no way in hell he's in his prime now. Sure, he's more of a leader and team player, but that's partly due to his declined athleticism and injuries/age. 2002-2007 Kobe on this current Laker team would be very very scary. Sure, his numbers are still up and he can still score in bunches, but it's not the same. His game is not the same. Especially this year. His lift is not there and the same shots that fell in the past are falling for him now. Right now, he's a very smart 1 on 1 player who gets by on being smarter than the defender and being that good. I don't think even he would say he's in his prime right now.

No disrespect OP, but did you watch Kobe in his earlier years? I'm talking early 00's. Not only did he have raw basketball talent and skills, but he was ultra athletic and crisp.

Yep.

2000 to 2003 were Kobe's best individual defensive seasons, and that is where his defensive reputation comes from.

I still included the mid years of 2005 to 2007, which are individually Kobe's best offensive seasons.

I'd prefer 2008 to 2010 Kobe over 2001 to 2003 Kobe.

2003 was his physical peak in terms of athleticism, his best dunks came from that season (Dunk Over Yao, Baseline Windmill on KG and Sprewell, Behind-the-back 360) and that famous 9 straight 40+ streak. He also had career highs in mpg, minutes, games played, total rebounds, rpg, spg, steals, 3p%, and total blocks. He had a ton of highlights that year 42 in one half on Jordan, 12 three pointers one game, list goes on and on...

2001 Kobe, he just broke out this season. I remember he started the season just dropping 30+ point games like nothing on everybody. He mentioned he made 2000 jumpers per day during the summer to get better. He clearly did, however Shaq wasn't too happy, and they fought mid way in the regular season. Kobe got injured, came back and they completed arguably the best playoff run ever in NBA history. I remember blowing out the Spurs by 39 and 29 points back to back as revenge for 1999, which was the most disappointing moments as a Laker fan.

With that said... Kobe won the mvp in 2008, and he was still damn athletic. You saw that Double Pump Reverse Dunk he did against the Hornets right? Its as good as any of "Frobe's" Double Pump Reverse Dunks he did back then. Kobe was light this season, and looked faster than he was in 06 and 07 actually.

2008 Kobe was the closest he's been to Frobe athleticism after 2005. Combine that with his improved and polished skillset, and most of all matured leadership. This was probably Kobe's peak year if you consider maturity, basketball iq, leadership, basketball ability, on-floor impact, and athleticism all put together. I personally rank this as Kobe's best season with a very narrow lead over his 2006 season. Its not all about stats.

2009 and 2010 Kobe were more of the same of 2008 Kobe, but with less athleticism. During the playoffs though, 2008 to 2010 were clearly Kobe's best playoff runs of his career. Which gives them the edge over 2001 to 2003.

Ya he played with Shaq and took some scoring outbursts away from Kobe, but it still can't be denied.

A whopping 64 of Kobe's 105 40+ point games came during 2005 to 2010.

He scored more career points during this 5 year stretch than any other 5 year stretch of his career.

He had no other time in his career where he was both 1st team all nba and 1st team all defense in the same year for 5 consecutive years. If you look at early Kobe he was usually 1st or 2nd team all nba with 2nd team all defense.

He won his mvp and 2 finals mvps during this time period, that should clearly give him an argument here over young Kobe.

What he lacked in athleticism, he more than made up for with improved basketball iq, more polished basketball skills, better leadership, and maturity as a basketball player. He gives you the same production, and higher overall floor impact. Which means he's better during this time.

[ImmortalD24]

Forget last season.. add the 2002-03 season and cut out the injury plagued/rape case year.. It doesn't have to be consecutive years.

Prime:

2002-03
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09

[Horatio33]

his rape prime - Summer 2003.

[laronprofit9]

[EarlTheGoat]

his rape prime - Summer 2003.

Very easy and predictable joke. Which exposes you both as a:

1. blind and irrational hater

2. non funny guy

[JM720]

Very easy and predictable joke. Which exposes you both as a:

1. blind and irrational hater

2. non funny guy

3. White and his sister is ****ing a black guy.

[KenneBell]

Can't say I'm surprised at what he's doing this season. He's going to get better as the year goes on too.

On a per minute basis he might be having his best season yet. In his 15th year. Think about that...

[laronprofit9]

Can't say I'm surprised at what he's doing this season. He's going to get better as the year goes on too.

On a per minute basis he might be having his best season yet. In his 15th year. Think about that...

He's posting up the same stats as 2009 and 2010, but in like 5 less minutes of playing time per game right now.

He's definitely been the very productive.

[laronprofit9]

To me a player peaks when he's on top physically, with a combination of peaked skills and leadership.

That would probably be 2008. But it's really hard to grasp, Kobe doesn't have a stretch of years or a season that really stands out over anything else. Which is why its hard to determine what that time during his career truly is.

[Heilige]

That would probably be 2008. But it's really hard to grasp, Kobe doesn't have a stretch of years or a season that really stands out over anything else. Which is why its hard to determine what that time during his career truly is.

What years/seasons do you feel Michael Jordan was in his physical prime, basketball skills prime and his leadership prime?