There are NBA seasons and then there are legendary, once-in-a-lifetime NBA seasons. Kobe Bryant’s 2009 season belonged to the latter category.
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Kobe Bryant’s ridiculous resume has one crown jewel. The 2009 season. The one where he proved once and for all, that he is, in fact, an all-time great.
There is no way around it. Nobody can even come close to touching the 2009 NBA season. Perhaps Michael Jordan? No, not even him. While his 1988 season, might be among the greatest ever, Kobe’s 2009 season was nothing short of transcendent.
There are numerous stats we can use to prove this, but the biggest one and perhaps the most important one is his clutch performances.
Nobody in the NBA has hit more than 5 game-winners in a season until Kobe did in 2009. He made 7 of them, yes 7.
Fun Fact: In the 2009-2010 season, Kobe Bryant hit 7 Game Winners in total for that season. This was the most by a single player in one season.
ALSO, had Kobe missed these game winners and the Lakers lose those games. LA would have been the 8th seed instead of the 1st seed pic.twitter.com/Yoa9mVncKc
— Dom / BBall Talk (@DominickNBA) May 21, 2022
Kobe Bryant’s magnum opus, the 2009 season, where he scored 61 against the Knicks and hit 7 game-winners!
If we look at the sheer absurdity of the 2009 season, we cannot stop finding incredible stats and numbers. The Mamba was a true master of basketball that season.
Every shot he made, every point he scored was like an artist’s brush strokes that would culminate in a masterpiece. Among the many brush strokes, Bryant also dropped 61 in Madison Square Garden.
Kobe in 2009 had 61 in MSG, was the All Star MVP, 2nd in the MVP race, was on the All NBA 1st team, 7th in the DPOY race, was on the All Defense 1st team, averaged 30+ PPG in the Conference Finals, 30+ PPG in the Finals, won the championship and won Finals MVP pic.twitter.com/eYErZTPp1y
— Tupac (@TupacAG) May 5, 2022
He came second in the MVP race behind LeBron James. But we are sure he never cared too much about that. He won his fourth title that year.
On the back of that insane season, his 7 game winners still make us scratch our heads. It was the pinnacle of what can be described as the clutch season.
If Kobe didn’t make those shots, the Lakers would be the 8th seed. Talk about a carry job. We reckon not many individual seasons can come close to it. What do you think? Did any other player have a better NBA season? Let us know in the comments below!
