The “Black Mamba” Kobe Bryant has one of the greatest careers in NBA history

Kobe Bryant. One of the most popular, loved, and inspiring players in NBA history. Kobe has influenced so many NBA players from kawhi to russell westbrook to DeMar DeRozan to Jayson Tatum Etc Etc. While Kobe is one of the most known and loved NBA Players, His all time ranking is very controversial. This article will go over his career talk about how great he was and then i will explain where i rank him all time and why.

Before I start ranking him I want to talk about his career first. Kobe got drafted 13th overall in 1996 at 17 years old and he turned 18 right before the season started. As a rookie he only played 15.5 mpg because Del Harris didnt like to play young players and the Lakers had Eddie Jones starting at the 2. Kobe didnt get to start until 1999 when the lakers fired Del Harris and hired Phil Jackson. Kobe averaged 28/5/7 per 100 on +3.8 rTS% in his first year as a full starter. In the PO he averaged 27/6/9 per 100 on +.9 rTS%. He had a slight regression (if even) but that is expected since its his first PO as a starter and he was 20.

2000 was the first season where Kobe started to become The Black Mamba. In 2000 Kobe averaged 29/6/6 per 100 on +2.3 rTS% which is pretty good but what made Kobe so good in 2000 was his defense. 2000 Kobe is one of the best perimeter defense seasons ever and easily his best. 2000 was also the season where kobe won his first ring alongside shaq. In Game 4 of the 2000 finals the game went into OT and shaq fouled out with 2:33 left with the score being 112-109 Lakers. After shaq went out Kobe had 6 pts on 3/4 shooting (75 TS%) and had all but 2 of the lakers points including a tip in bucket with 5 seconds left to give the Lakers a 3 point lead. This is one of the first of many iconic moments that Kobe had in his career. 2001 is the year where Kobe entered his prime. Kobe averaged 36/6/8 on +3.4 rTS and had a top 3 PO run of his entire career. 2001 is the year where the Lakers ran through the entire western conference and kobe averaged 35/7/9 on +4.4 rTS and Kobe got his second ring vs the 76ers and AI. Kobe averaged 25/6/8 (per game) on -4.9 rTS% but this is deflated by his bad game 1 performance. if you take out game 1 he averaged 27/6/9 on -1.2 rTS. His D was also great in 01 but he clearly regressed which makes sense because he had an increase in offensive role. 2002 Kobe had one of his worst RS. 2002 is probably his second best Finals in which he got his 3rd ring against jason kidd's Nets where he averaged 27/5/6 on +1.9 rTS% .

In 2003 Shaq missed almost 20 games and this is the season where Kobe started to get best player in the league talks. Kobe averaged 38/7/9 on +3.1 rTS while still being a very good defender. This is also Kobes best shooting season from deep arguably as he took 4.9 3s/100 and made them at a 38.3% rate

(+3.4 r3PT%). In the Playoffs Kobe and Shaq faced off with Tim Duncan having one of the best PO runs ever and lost in 6 to the spurs. 2003 was also the year that Kobe made (12!) 3s in one game. The LA for team 3s made per game in 03 was 5.1 for reference. 04 and 05 Kobe missed a lot of games and was noticeably worse than in 03. Shaq got traded in 04 and by 2006 Kobe had a core supporting cast of Smush Parker Lamar odom Chris Mihm Kwame Brown Devean george and Luke Walton. Somehow Kobe lead this team to 45 wins and a +2.2 rORTG (8th in the NBA). He averaged 46/6/7 on +2.3 rTS% in 2006. his 45.6 PTS/100 is the third highest in NBA history behind only 1987 MJ and 2019 James Harden. Kobes Offensive impact in 2006 was also insanely high. The lakers ORTG was 21 points worse per 100 with kobe off the court than when he was on. This is one of the highest swings in the play by play era. 2006 also contains one of Kobes many iconic moments where he had maybe his most famous game winner in Game 4 of the first round against Phoenix. He had 24/8/4 for the game on 68.5 TS% including 6 of the lakers 9 OT points on 104 TS%. 2007 was another stunning season as kobe averaged 40/7/7 on +3.9 rTS%. This is the most efficient season of his career and this is on the 2nd highest volume of his career. He wasnt nearly as good as he was in 06 But he was still a top 3 player in 07.

2008 Can very easily be argued as Kobes best season. It was the his best balance of scoring playmaking and defense. This is also arguably his best PO Run as well. Kobe averaged 37/7/8 on +3.6 rTS while being one of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. In the Playoffs he averaged 38/7/7 on +4.5 rTS and improved defensively. This is also including a finals series where he played one of the best defenses ever in Boston. In 2009 He averaged 38/7/7 on +2.7 rTS but regressed as a defender (he was still a good defender, around the same level he was in 03). while he was amazing in the RS he was even better in the PO, averaging 39/7/7 on +2 rTS while playing the

48-34 Jazz (-1 rDRTG, 10th NBA) 53-29 Rockets (-4.3 rDRTG, 4th NBA)

54-28 Nuggets (-1.5 rDRTG, 8th NBA)

59-23 Magic (-6.4 rDRTG, 1st NBA)

and in the finals he averaged 41/9/7 on -1.1 rTS%. Yes he was inefficient but that can be explained by not only his immense volume but also his scoring gravity. 2010 kobe averaged 36/7/7 on +.2 rTS while being an elite defender and in the PO Kobe was playing through a lot of injuries and faced the

50-32 Thunder (-3 rDRTG , 9th NBA) 53-29 Jazz (-2.6 rDRTG, 10th NBA)

54-28 Suns (2.6 rDRTG, 23rd NBA)

50-32 Celtics (-3.8 rDRTG, 5th NBA)

and Kobe still averaged 39/7/8 on +2.4 rTS%. Don't forget this is on top of his elite defense. 2010 is also the year that Kobe had arguably his best PO series against Phoenix. Vs the Suns kobe averaged 43/10/9 on +5 rTS including a 40/5/5 bomb in game 1 on 70.7 TS%. In game 5 Kobe had 30/9/11 on +2.9 rTS. the 2010 Finals would be Kobe's Last in which he had a legendary 7 game dual with the KG and Paul Pierce Lead Boston celtics. Kobe was dealing with multiple injuries including a broken finger in his shooting hand. He was also the celtics main point of focus and was pressured heavily by them. Kobe still ended up averaging 39/5/11 on +1.8 rTS. In Game 4 he had 33/2/6 on +9.5 rTS and 12 4th quarter points on 63 TS%. Game 5 was his best game where he had 38/4/5 on 61.4 TS% (Lakers had a team TS% of 48.1% that is a +13.3 rTS%) this included 9 4th quarter points on 54.9 TS%. I can't Talk about the 2010 Finals and not talk about game 7. Kobe had 23/2/15 on 37.6 TS% (Lakers TS% was 41.8%) and 10/1/4 in the 4th on 62.8 TS% including the game icing FTs with 25.7 seconds left.

2011 was his last prime season arguably and injuries were starting to catch up for him. He averaged 40/7/8 on +.7 rTS. He was still a great player and one of the best in The NBA but he just wasnt the same. In the Po he averaged 36/5/5 on +.7 rTS and wasnt a good defender in the RS or PO. 2012 was a worse version of 2011 but 2013 was Kobe's Last stand. He briefly returned to the guy that inspired so many after gradually declining. Kobe was having to drag an injured Lakers team and averaged 36/8/7 on +3.5 rTS and had one of the best clutch moments of his career against Toronto on 3-08-13. Kobe had 41/12/6 on 70.6 TS% en route to a lakers W by 2 and in the 4th he had 15 points on 86.8 TS%. The Lakers were down by 5 with 2:02 left and Kobe hit 3 straight 3s including the Go Ahead to send the Game to OT. In OT Kobe had 4/0/3 on 51.5 TS% including a dunk with 10.7 sec left to put the lakers up 2 and then a DRB that secured the W. The last iconic moment of Kobe's 2013 season came on 04-12-13 Against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Kobe had 34/4/5 on 60.6 TS and the Lakers won by 2. with 3:08 left in the game Harrison Barnes fouled Kobe and caused him to fall down. Kobe didnt get up at first and started grabbing his Achilles. He knew it was probably a sever injury since he had put so much mileage on his body and was playing 45+ mpg just to keep the lakers in the PO race. Kobe had 2 FTs he had to shoot so he eventually got up limped to the FT line and drained both Fts which tied the game at 109. He then walked off the court and that was the end of his season.

2014 Kobe only played 6 Games and 2015 He only Played 35. By 2016 he was so broken down physically that he was a shell of his former self. He was able to have one last iconic moment in his last game vs the utah jazz. the 16-65 Lakers were playing the just then eliminated Jazz and were not expecting a win. Kobe Bryant started the game with 15 on 50.8 TS% in the 1st. He had a terrible 2nd and went into half with 22 on 42.5 TS% and the lakers were down by 15. Kobe had 15 3rd quarter points on 53.6 TS%. The lakers were still down by 9 going into the 4th and Utah looked like they were going to spoil Vino's last game. Kobe had a cold start to the 4th missing 3 straight shots and the lakers went down 82-70 with 10 minutes left. Kobe then caught fire, getting 8 points on 66.7 TS% and brought the game within 3. after missing 3 straight shots The Mamba came out in Kobe One last time. in the Last 3:46 minutes of the Game Kobe had 15 Points on 111 TS% (no missed shots). including the game icing Fts with 15 seconds Left and his last Field Goal attempt being his Signature Move, The turnaround fadeaway. The Lakers ended up winning 101-96 and Kobe ended with 60/4/4 on 54.3 TS%. Kobe's Last game was legendary and easily the greatest finale in SPORTS History, not just the NBA.

Now that i talked about kobes immaculate career, let's talk about what made him so great.

You Can't talk about kobe and not mention is scoring ability. Kobe is one of the highest volume players in NBA history and was a high level scorer in 3 different decades (99-13). His scoring longevity is unmatched by anyone not named lebron james. kobe also had to play in the hardest era of all time and was still able to dominate it. 06 Kobe is one of the best Scoring seasons in NBA History averaging 45.6 PTS/100 on +2.3 rTS% while not having a good second option to take pressure off of him and without elite spacing. His scoring gravity throughout his career was always unimaginably high but it was probably it's highest in 2006. I think 06 kobe is a fringe top 5 scoring season ever and that 06-09 Kobe is a fringe top 3-5 peak scoring wise. combining a top 2 scoring longevity with a top 5ish peak is a pretty good scorer but he was also an all time PO Scorer and his resilience was great because of his ability to hit difficult shots. It would be wrong of me not to talk about Kobe's Scoring versatility when talking about him. Kobe could effectively score from any range, had all of the counters imaginable, one of the best mid range jumpers ever, and the GOAT Footwork. Kobe's "Bag" was unmatchable and is far better than any other basketball that ever was and will ever be.

Kobe's Playmaking ability is quite underrated because he never had insane assist numbers (peaked at 5.9 AST/100 in 2015 and his highest AST/100 in his prime was 5,3 in 05), But Kobe was legendary at not turning the ball over had insanely high gravity (only curry shaq MJ and LeBron have more scoring gravity imo) and was a great off ball player for most of his prime. His passing ability is also underrated. he didnt get a huge number of assists but 70.9% of his assists were high value assists in his prime (HV AST = assists at the rim or at the 3pt line). for reference here are some all time playmakers from the pbp era and their HV AST% in their prime

LeBron James: 77.7% (06-20)

Steve Nash: 68.1% (01-11)

CP3: 68.8% (08-18)

Russell Westbrook: 77.3% (15-19)

Steph Curry: 77.6% (14-19)

James Harden: 90.9% (13-20)

This obviously isnt a 100% definitive stat and doesnt take into account that nash and CP3 were passing at much higher volumes and weren't playing in an era where 3pt shots are much more common. Here is just Assists at the rim

Kobe: 42.5%

LeBron: 39.2%

Nash: 43.5%

CP3: 39.5%

russ: 48.3%

steph: 48.2%

Harden: 51.6%

By the way here is each player's HV AST/100 for their prime (AST/100)

Kobe: 4.9 (6.9)

Lebron: 7.9 (10.2) nash: 9.9 (14.6)

CP3: 10.3 (14.9)

russ: 10.9 (14.1)

steph: 7.7 (9.9)

harden: 9.2 (10.1)

so while Kobe's passing "effciency" may be on the same tier as some of these guys his volume isnt but my point of him being a great passer still stands and i think its reasonable to have him as a top 15-20 playmaker ever or lower maybe.

Defensively, Kobe is a very controversial player. There are two opposite extremes when evaluating his D and it feels like there is little to no in between. There are those that use things such as Defensive accolades and Point out kobe's lockdown D on Ball to call him an all time defender and there are people that use things such as box score metrics and raw on/off data to call him overrated and even imply he was close to a bad defender. i personally think hes around a top 25ish Perimeter defender i can see him higher or lower. His defensive peaks is one of the best from a guard ever but his D was extremely inconsistent from year to year and even possession to possession ( mainly from 05-07 pre 04 his D motor was amazing) and after 2010 he was never a + on D again.

Kobe's Longevity is one of the best in NBA history. I dont think you can argue any more than 4 players in NBA history as having better longevity than Kobe, those being

LeBron James Kareem Abdul Jabbar Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. Kobe was a high quality player ( all star level or higher) for 15 seasons IN A ROW including multiple MVP and All Time caliber years. I also think 2015 he can be argued as a + player depending on how high you are on his O. His longevity is a lock top 5 and i think it can be argued as high as 3.

Lastly I will talk about Kobe's Peak. I think his peak is 06-09. from 06-09 his Offense was just crazy. he averaged 40/7/7 on +2.9 rTS with immense gravity ability and passing. If you inflation adjust this he averaged 41/7/8 on 59.5 IA TS% ( = to a +3 rTS in 2020). in the PO he averaged 38/7/7 on +3.3 rTS%. when inflation adjusted it is 39/7/7 on 60 IA TS% (= to +3.5 rTS% in 2020). also i would like to note that his PO Comp in 08 and 09 compared to his production was insane. Defensively he improved from the RS to PO as he was engaged more often (especially in 08 and 09). Kobe's floor raising ability from 06-08 is some of the best floor raising ever (especially on offense) his off ball ability in 08 and 09 was near the top of the league but he was also the best shot creator in the NBA on Ball other than maybe lebron. 06-09 Kobe is a top 4-7 offensive peak ever combined with a solid defensive stretch and it includes two all time PO runs and a GOAT tier offensive floor raising season. I have his peak around 7-12 all time depending on how high you are on his D in 06 and 07 and his O in 08 and 09.

Now that I've gone over what makes him so great at basketball, I will now go over where Kobe ranks IN MY OPINION. I personally think that Kobes top 5 longevity combined with being a top 7-12 peak player ever and being a PO Riser that is a top 2-4 scorer ever and an all time playmaker and perimeter defender i think he has a strong argument to be a top 5 player of all time and as high as 4 all time. I have him ranked 6th all time but can see him as low as 9. I think that having him top 3 or higher is overrating him and having him outside of a top 10 is disrespectful.

Thank you for reading this article on how great the Black Mamba, Kobe Bean Bryant was in honor of him being inducted into the HOF. I would love feedback.