The WORST criticism of Kobe Bryant's career....

 

                                        Why Kobe WAS NOT carried by Shaq

Let's face it the Shaq and Kobe duo is probably the most interesting duo to look at in NBA history because of the relationship they shared. They had a player in Shaq were nobody could physically match him and on the other hand they had Kobe who was determine to win no matter the cost. The success these two had while wearing the same uniform is something that hasn't been matched since. 99% of NBA fans all agree that Shaq was the better in this 2 man duo and that much i can stand by. However the problem i've noticed is people tend to fall into this narrative that Shaq carried Kobe because Shaq was the one holding up the FMVPs for the 3 championships. Bare with me because i will enclose how bombared this argument honestly is.

But before we go any further i want to set something straight and clear up what it actually means to be carried. Getting "carried" means you are barley contributing anything to the team success or that the team would be the same without that specific player. For instance, Shaun Livingston was carried during the Golden State Warriors 2018 championship. Or Richard Jefferson was carried by LeBron James and Kyrie Irving during the Cleveland Cavaliers title run in 2016. However you can't "carry" a player who is going to notch numbers of 25 points and 5 assists on respectable efficiency. 

Now we can insect Shaq's playoff career before Kobe would truly develop into a star (2000) 

1994: Shaq was swept by The Indiana pacers and only averaged 20.7 PPG which is 8.6 less than what he averaged in the regular season and his FG% went down by 8.8%.

1995: Would go on to make the NBA finals averaging 26-12-3 on over 57% FG but was swept by Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets.

1996: Made it to the ECF but would get swept when he got their.

1997: Lost in 2nd round in 5

1998: Swept in the WCF

1999: Swept in 2nd round

Think about the playoff career of LeBron James pre 2012. It was a very similar situation with Shaq. A very dominate player who got criticized by the media due to his lack of playoff success. Make no mistake about it Kobe wouldn't win those rings without Shaq...but on the other hand people often forget that Shaq wouldn't have those 3 rings without Kobe. As Shaq was coming up empty handed year in and year out...so therefore wouldn't be fair to say the both needed each other to be as great as they were?

For the Lakers 2000 title Shaq was the best player but there are moments throughout that playoff run were Kobe really did save Shaq/the Lakers from another ringless season. For instance in the Western Conference Finals vs the Portland Trail Blazers in game 7. Heading into the 4th quarter of this game Shaq only had 9 points and 5 REB on 33% FG and was playing well under his circumstances. This caused the Lakers to be down 13 heading into the 4th quarter with the game slowly getting out of their reach. But Kobe decided it was time to get serious and would lead the comeback in the 4th quarter and ended the game with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. And let me remind you that this is a game 7. So if Bryant didn't do what he did Shaq gets denied another finals appearance and would have got ripped apart my the media. 

Kobes next big moment would come during the 2000 NBA finals in game 4. In which Shaq had a good game and Kobe returned from his ankle injury. Kobe played 47 minutes that game and had 28 points, as well as 5 assists, on over 51% shooting along with a complete takeover during the extra period. During overtime Shaq would get fouled out and in the last 3:45 seconds of overtime Kobe would score 8 points on 4/4 shooting while hitting multiple long range jumpers and and made a tip in layup that would ultimately put the Lakers up by 3 points leaving Indiana with just 5 seconds left on the clock. The lakers most likely lose if not for Bryant's efforts in game 4 and the Pacers would have won game 4 tying the series 2-2 with the next game being on Indiana's home floor. 

Think of it like this: Would it really make sense for a player that was "carried" to save the team multiple times in a playoff run? Now in the 2000 finals Kobe statistically didn't do well as he only averaged 16 PPG on 37% FG but this is mainly due to an ankle injury caused by Jalen Rose which happened in game 2. Kobe would only play 9 minutes in game 2 and missed all of game 3. Which would obviously bring down his statistical outputs for the series. 

During the 2001 season Kobe was now a big star in the league. He made 2nd team all NBA while averaging 28 in a half points per game. And During this postseason run Kobe and Shaq's launched very close numbers.

Kobe averages in 2001 playoffs:

29.4 PPG | 7.3 REB | 6.1 AST | 55.5% TS | 6.5 BPM 

Shaq averages in 2001 playoffs

30.4 PPG | 15.4 REB | 3.2 AST | 56.4% TS | 6.5 BPM 

That is not what getting carried looks like. By these stats it's safe to say that this was a 1a 1b type of situation. Because in no universe can you say averaging 29 points is getting carried. Kobes best performances in the 2001 playoffs were a 48 point game to close out the Sacramento Kings, a 45 point game to start the series of vs Duncan and the Spurs and a 31 and 32 point game in games 2 and 3 of the NBA finals vs the Philadelphia 76ers. All these resulting in a win. 

And then in the 2002 playoffs the Lakers were on the verge of elimination in a game 7 against the Sacramento Kings. Kobe would launch 30 points, 10 rebounds, along with 7 assists, and Shaq would have 35 points on 48% shooting. There was no carrying going on. Simply a great duo working together to try and secure a 3-peat. 

However this is a piece in the puzzle and doesn't emphasize enough of how good Kobe was during the last 2 finals. Bryant in the 2001 and 2002 NBA finals would launch numbers of 25.7 points per game, 5.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds, on a respectable 46.4% from the floor.

In the history of the NBA finals there has only been 8 times were a player has averaged 25.5+ PPG, 5.5+ AST, 6.5+ REB on 46% FG in the finals (which is what Kobe put up in 2001 and 2002) . Which truly shows Kobe was not getting carried by was but up all time great finals performance...