Kobe Bryant was the symbol of Lakers royalty in the 2000s.
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The high-flying guard was a sight to see in full fledge. Kobe was part of 5 championship runs and many seasons of contention with the LA franchise.
20 seasons at LA saw Kobe have two jerseys retired in a hall of fame career. Byrant became an icon with his style of play and hard-nosed “Mamba” mentality.
Kobe, despite all his success, however, did earn a reputation for being selfish. Bryant was often accused of being a ball-hog and a bad teammate. Many high-profile falling outs such as one with legendary teammate Shaquille O’Neal did not help with the narrative.
Bryant often put up spectacular numbers but had them discredited due to his isolation-heavy style of play. Think of the James Harden discredit in recent years.
This showed in the public perception and media treatment of Bryant too. Kobe was often left out of award consideration due to the status and repute he bore.
Such an instance took place in 2004-05. Bryant recorded 27 points, 6 assists, and 5.9 rebounds for the season. However, the Lakers finished only 34-48 and Kobe got tagged with the “empty stats” narrative. Zero MVP votes with that numbers seem insulting, however, in hindsight.
Who were the MVP candidates in 2004-05? Did Kobe deserve consideration?
The podium finishers were all established NBA superstars. Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dirk Nowitzki dominated the voting after stellar individual seasons.
Nash recorded 15-11 en route to his MVP title. Shaq put up 23-10 and Dirk enjoyed a 26-10 season. However, the distinguishing factor between Kobe and the other stars was the sheer winning-est status of their teams.
The Lakers were poor and had only a 34-48 record for the season. This makes Kobe’s exclusion from voting understandable. However, what if we told you that a non-all-star from a lottery team won a vote over Kobe? That sounds pretty blasphemous, surely.
P J Brown was a solid NBA role player. However, Brown’s name was never a fixture in all-star or MVP considerations. An NBA champ, Brown had a solid career with all-defensive selections to highlight. But he was no NBA MVP.
And yet, with only 11 points and 9 rebounds for a lottery team, Brown ended up with more MVP votes than Kobe in 04-05. Albeit a third-place vote, it stood above Kobe’s 0 votes.
Kobe had a stellar career. But this must have been a serious low that Bryant must have taken very personally. Two rings and arguably the greatest NBA farewell ever later, the pain must have stung a bit less for Kobe.
