Where do you rank Kobe's '09 Finals

[secund2nun]

To be fair here, the Celtics was built with 3 Hall of Famers to beat one Kobe Bryant.

Celtics were a very good team and it took 3 Failed Lead Dogs to do it.

I can't really recall any superstar being slayed like that besides Kobe.

And what was Kobe doing before Gasol? Losing in the first round 3 straight years in a row after Shaq left.

It works both ways. KG led trash to the WCF one year.

[Magic 32]

And what was Kobe doing before Gasol? Losing in the first round 3 straight years in a row after Shaq left.

It works both ways. KG led trash to the WCF one year.

[necya]

[QUOTE=Magic 32]Ahhh yes, the "Bynum wouldn

[necya]

Top 5 finals performance since '09 for sure.

[Mr. I'm So Rad]

Good but not legendary. It's hard to rank a 43% shooting performance up there any where close with the great final performances of all times unless you are doing something crazy like nearing a triple double. There have been many better.

Being the only other person besides West to average 32/7 in a finals is somewhat legendary though. And the first since Jordan to average 30/5/5 on a title winning team.

Well maybe not legendary, but very respectable.

[Money 23]

Rookie Courtney Lee isn't that great of a defender, and Michael Pietrus is decent.

Let's not exaggerate.

He balled out of his mind in games 1 (best Kobe Finals performance) and was killer in game 5. I remember for a chunk of the series he shot poorly, and was having Fisher bail him out. With that said he made some very nice passes. Such as the spin move, over the shoulder to trailing Pau Gasol for the dunk over D12.

[LEFT4DEAD]

His best finals performance, but it doesn't say so much. He is the worst finals performer among top 10 players and its not even close.

[Money 23]

His best finals performance, but it doesn't say so much. He is the worst finals performer among top 10 players and its not even close.

He doesn't seem to play well against that ECF style of ball.

[goldenryan]

[DJ Leon Smith]

To be fair here, the Celtics was built with 3 Hall of Famers to beat one Kobe Bryant.

Celtics were a very good team and it took 3 Failed Lead Dogs to do it.

I can't really recall any superstar being slayed like that besides Kobe.

Excellent point.

And remember how a team of 0 lead dogs (failed or not) held Kobe to 30% shooting in 2004. You probably don't.

P.S. Jordan in 1993. Barkley, KJ, Chambers. Three "failed lead dogs". He beat them. Comprehensively. Step your memory game up.

[NumberSix]

His best finals. Legit fmvp performance. His other finals performances are underwhelming at best though

[tmacattack33]

Where do I rank Kobe's 09 Finals?

8.5/10. Pretty good. Deserved Finals MVP that year.

- I remember some good passing from him that series and that year.

- Bad shooting efficiency. It was against a great D though so it's not too bad though.

- Meh defense...he was on Lee or Pietrus mostly.

- He was not great in the clutch in games 2, 3, and 4 (and games 1 and 5 weren't close games).

[TheMarkMadsen]

haha don't make it like Bynum would givve the title to the Lakers. what is pathetic is to act like Kobe had one of the greatest finals ever forgetting the fact that the Lakers were lucky to not play the Celtics .
and don't take it too seriously, i have no interest for the last 15 years of poor basketball and i don't wanna talk with kobe stans.

That's the dumbest argument I've ever heard "the lakers were lucky to not play the celtics"

Especially when they beat them the very next year


I guess the HEAT were lucky not to face the bulls?

I guess Jordan was lucky that magic got aids & len biase had a bad coke habit.

If you have no intrest of discussing the past 15 yeats of ball then why the hell are you on the internet as a member of a bball website that isn't even 15 years old in itself?

Go back to the old folks home

[Vertical-24]

Anyone saying Kobe's 09 finals was not impressive either does not remember the Finals or is just impartial towards Bryant himself. Kobe went up against one of the leagues best defensive teams and pretty much dominated the whole way through. Bryant made up for his lackluster 08 finals, and did so in a more than remarkable way. This series you got to see Kobe the scorer, Kobe the playmaker, and most important, Kobe the leader all in one. Prior to the series commencing, I remember so many people doubting LA would win. People saying Kobe didn't have what it took to lead his own team to a championship, people saying that Kobe would forever be remembered solely as Shaq's sidekick and I even remember an analyst on ESPN comparing Bryant to Clyde Drexler (who was an amazing player in his own right but is often forgotten about). Kobe silenced all the naysayers. People must've not only forgotten the atmosphere surrounding this series. They must've also forgot his dominance he displayed during the series both as a leader and an overall player. It's a shame.

[Whoah10115]

GOAT performance obviously. LAWD GAWDBE is DA GOAT and he's sexy too.

You're getting repetitive.