The Los Angeles Lakers had won back-to-back NBA championships in 2009 and 2010 under the guidance of legendary coach, Phil Jackson. Led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers had a tough time facing off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs. It wasn’t until Phil Jackson made some drastic changes that the series came back to them and the Lakers advanced to the next round.
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Lakers head coach Phil Jackson called a last-minute change in game 5 against the Thunder. He switched the defensive assignments by putting Kobe Bryant on Russell Westbrook, given how Brodie was a menace to anyone who tried to guard him.
Kobe Bryant had struggled extensively throughout the first four games of the series. It wasn’t until game 5 that Bryant had a rebirth when a substantial amount of liquid was drained from his knee, causing Bryant to feel relieved.
Moving Bryant onto Westbrook worked wonders for the Lakers. The Black Mamba was able to limit Brodie to just 15 points on 4-13 shooting from the field. Not only that but Bryant also worked as the team’s primary ball handler and facilitator.
With Bryant running the team’s offense, players like Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum worked wonders down on the block. Gasol finished the game with an impressive 25 points whereas Bynum had 21 of his own by the end of the game.
“Kobe had struggled during the first four games but experienced a rebirth in game 5 after getting a significant amount of liquid drained from his aching knee. One of our best moves was having him cover the Thunder’s free-wheeling point guard, Russell Westbrook, who had been running wild against our other guards. Kobe not only held Westbrook to 15 points on 4 for 13 shooting, he also galvanized our offense by acting as a facilitator and moving the ball inside to Pau [Gasol], who scored 25 points, and Bynum (21).”
– From Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success
And by the end of the final buzzer, the Lakers won the game 111-87, defeating the Thunder and advancing to the next round. It was unusual to see Bryant on the facilitating end of the ball, given how he is not known for having shared the rock an awful lot. Bryant did not pass the ball to his teammates who he felt did not practice as much or as hard as him. So, the fact that he was consistently dishing the ball to his teammates, especially Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum, showed how much faith he had in his teammates.
When the Lakers legend could not provide on the offensive end, he put his trust in Gasol and Bynum who delivered big time as the Lakers ended up winning the game.
Kobe Bryant and his Mamba Mentality
Kobe Bryant’s work ethic is something that is talked about to this day. Bryant would often wake up at 4 in the morning to get some extra shots up and practice. Given how the Lakers lost in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant was more than eager to win it all, even after their 2009 NBA Championship.
Coming off a championship after a win over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals the year before, Kobe Bryant and the rest of the team were locked in to bring another NBA title to Los Angeles. It seemed as if Bryant’s Mamba Mentality had rubbed off on his teammates a bit.
Bryant was averaging 29.2 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 5.5 APG in the 2010 playoffs, while also playing 40+ minutes every game. But all that hard work paid off as the Lakers got their revenge, defeating the Celtics in the 2010 NBA Finals.
In 2020, Bryant even revealed what a relief it was to defeat the Boston Celtics superteam in 2010. When asked about it, Bryant said, “It was a big relief.” And it must’ve been given how the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals to work their way back and get even with them.
