Kobe Bryant is arguably the greatest Laker to ever play for that historic franchise. He was instrumental to 5 championship wins for the Lakers, stayed with them for his whole career, and put up incredible performances and numbers every game he could play. Bryant is remembered as one of the greatest for the amazing things he did on the court, but there are a few years of his career when it seemed like his name might fade away.
After Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant had a falling out, Shaq was sent to the Miami Heat. Four straight seasons of making it to the NBA Finals was a run that suddenly came to an end in the 2004-05 season, and the roster around Bryant left a lot to be desired. The ratings for all his teammates from that era on the NBA Live game show exactly how bad things got for the Lakers.
Lakers starting lineup in NBA Live 2005 pic.twitter.com/CykNCueCKk
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) December 29, 2022
While Kobe Bryant did have Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, who contributed decently, no player on the team averaged more than 15 points per game. Bryant had 27 points per game and tried to carry the Lakers, but they had an abysmal 34-48 record and missed the playoffs entirely. The likes of Brian Grant and Chucky Atkins played significant minutes, which goes to show bad things were for the team. And fans had a lot to say about this picture when it went viral recently.
NBA Fans Couldn’t Believe Who Kobe Bryant Was Playing With In 2005
There were narratives around Kobe building up at this time suggesting that he was a ball hog and someone that didn’t care about winning as much as scoring. But as fans rightly pointed out, what exactly was Kobe supposed to do when he had no real second option to take over some of the responsibilities?
https://t.co/fROenH1ium pic.twitter.com/4PDs3YkDc8
— KobeArchives (@KobeArchives24) December 29, 2022
“55 overall is crazy, dawg.”
“Bro Chucky was so so a**. That sh*t used to have me so heated.”
“This is Lebron in 2022.”
“People disrespect Kobe and forget what he dealt with.”
“How you got a 55 overall.”
“Odom was legit but what a bunch of scrubs otherwise.”
“Bro Kobe really went through it.”
“The struggle was real for this man.”
“I’m so glad they put a good team around him again.”
“Of course he was chucking shots, look at them names.”
Kobe Bryant earned some of the criticism that came his way in the 2000s, but it’s also true that for the longest time, he simply had no help. Context and perspective are important when judging the career of any superstar, and it’s a wonderful thing that Kobe Bryant was able to defeat all the narratives around him eventually.
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