Giannis Antetokounmpo recently made headlines for denying that the 2022-23 NBA season was a failure for the Milwaukee Bucks after getting eliminated from the postseason in the first round.
Giannis used Michael Jordan’s example to point out that there is no failure in sports. But the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant had a different answer to facing a somewhat similar situation after losing the 2008 NBA Finals vs. the Boston Celtics.
“The goal was to win a championship,” Bryant said. “It wasn’t to win MVP or anything like that, it was to win a championship. So in that aspect, we failed.”
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In the 2007-08 NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers finished as the first seed in the Western Conference with a 57-25 record. The Purple and Gold rampaged through the postseason to reach the 2008 NBA Finals.
However, the Lakers were bested by the Boston Celtics’ superteam in six games. In the series, Kobe averaged 25.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.0 APG, 2.7 SPG, and 0.2 BPG. Bryant had a phenomenal series, but he still ended up on the losing side.
Instead of making excuses, Kobe openly claimed the season was a failure as the Lakers failed to win the title. On the other hand, Giannis doesn’t believe this season was a failure for the Bucks, despite getting knocked out of the postseason in the first round as the number one seed in the Eastern Conference.
Kobe Bryant Won Back-To-Back NBA Championships After 2008
Winning the 2008 NBA title could have been a perfect ending for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Bryant won the MVP award and led the Lakers to the first seed, but just couldn’t get past the stacked Boston Celtics.
Instead of sulking, Bryant focused on the next two seasons. He even took some advice from Michael Jordan to get past the Celtics after losing in 2008.
Well, Bryant’s hard work paid off as the Lakers won back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. Those were the fourth and fifth rings, respectively, of the Mamba’s career.
Kobe’s legacy got a massive boost after winning those rings, and the best part of it was that he took his revenge against the Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals.
Will Giannis Antetokounmpo go down a similar path? We will have to wait and find out.
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