In 20 seasons, a brash teen became an NBA legend
Kobe Bryant played 20 seasons with the Lakers, more than any other player. Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West each logged 14 with the team. Bryant made 18 All-Star teams, played on five championship teams, once was the league most valuable player, twice was NBA Finals MVP and four times was All-Star game MVP. Here’s a look at each of his seasons in purple and gold.
1996-97 Record: 56-26; Playoffs: 4-5 It was a quiet NBA debut for the 18-year-old in November 1996: Bryant played six scoreless minutes against Minnesota and missed his only shot. He joined a talented team led by Shaquille O’Neal and a roster with veteran guards Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Byron Scott, plus fellow rookie Derek Fisher. Bryant’s confidence wasn’t lacking. In Game 5 of their secondround playoff series against Utah, he took the last shot in regulation and missed everything, then in overtime launched three more airballs from three-point range as the Lakers were eliminated. Afterward, coach Del Harris said: “I would give that shot at the end of the game to Kobe today, tomorrow, next week, and 15 years from now. Kobe is our best one-on-one player.”
1997-98 Record: 61-21; Playoffs: 7-6 Another teenage growth spurt. Bryant made his first All-Star game but still was coming off the bench for the Lakers even though he was third on the team in scoring. The Lakers made it to the Western Conference finals before being swept by the Jazz led by Karl Malone and John Stockton.
1998-99 Record: 31-19; Playoffs: 3-5 At age 20, Bryant finally cracked the Lakers’ starting lineup and stayed there. In a lockout-shortened season, expectations were high for the Lakers. After a 6-6 start Harris was fired and Kurt Rambis took over as coach. It was the Lakers’ final season at the Forum in Inglewood. Bryant averaged career highs in almost every category and was second best to O’Neal on the team. But the Lakers were swept in the second round of the playoffs by San Antonio, which won its first title.
1999-2000 Record: 67-15; Playoffs: 15-8; NBA champions New building (Staples Center), new coach (Phil Jackson), new championship banner. O’Neal was the league MVP but Bryant emerged as a second superstar. In the West finals, the Lakers rallied from a 15point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Portland in Game 7. Then the Lakers beat Indiana in six games for the championship. O’Neal was 28, Bryant 21. The future looked golden.
2000-2001 Record: 56-26; Playoffs: 15-1; NBA champions The most dominant of the Shaq-Kobe playoff teams, with their only postseason loss coming in Game 1 of the Finals against Allen Iverson and Philadelphia. O’Neal finished third in the NBA in scoring, Bryant fourth. “I want to be the best basketball player I can possibly be,” he said. “A lot of people take that as selfish. But in order to be the best basketball player I can possibly be, we need to win. So, it all coincides with that goal.”
2001-02 Record: 58-24; Playoffs: 15-4; NBA champions Bryant kept refining his game and won his first All-Star game MVP award. In the Western Conference finals against the Kings, the Lakers needed Robert Horry’s clutch three-pointer at the buzzer in Game 4 and a tough-it-out overtime win at Sacramento in Game 7 to reach the NBA Finals. Once there, the Lakers swept New Jersey for a title three-peat, something Magic Johnson’s Showtime teams never accomplished.
2002-03 Record: 50-32; Playoffs: 6-6 O’Neal missed 15 games with injuries, while Bryant played every game and led the Lakers in scoring for the first time and was second in scoring in the NBA behind Tracy McGrady. Bryant also led the NBA in field goals and finished third in MVP voting. But in the playoffs the Lakers were stopped in the second round by a talented Spurs team, with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, David Robinson and Manu Ginobili on their way to another championship.
2003-04 Record: 56-26; Playoffs: 13-9 O’Neal, who turned 32, showed signs of decline as he clamored for a new contract. Bryant was dealing with a sexual assault case, which was later dropped. The offseason additions of aging stars Malone and Gary Payton, both hoping to win a ring, never worked well. The Lakers showed enough talent to reach the Finals, where they faced a young, talented and deep Detroit team that dominated the series and won the title in five games.
2004-05 Record: 34-48 Jackson and O’Neal were gone. Bryant almost signed with the Clippers in the offseason but returned to the Lakers and was the only star on the team, though there was some buzz about newcomers Caron Butler and Lamar Odom, who were picked up in the O’Neal trade. Jackson’s replacement, Rudy Tomjanovich, quit after 43 games and any momentum died after that. For the first time in 10 seasons the Lakers missed the playoffs.
2005-06 Record: 45-37; Playoffs: 3-4 The good news was Jackson’s return to the bench. But he wasn’t coaching a championship-caliber roster, though Bryant’s careerhigh average of 35.4 points secured his first scoring title, highlighted by his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in January. The Lakers took a surprising 3-1 lead over Phoenix in their first-round playoff series, but talent won out and the Lakers went home after losing the final three games.
2006-07 Record: 42-40; Playoffs: 1-4 It was a talent-thin roster, including the not-so-memorable Smush Parker and Kwame Brown. Bryant won a scoring title and carried the team, pouring in 50 or more points in 11 games as the Lakers squeaked into the playoffs as the seventhseeded team in the Western Conference before they were humbled by the Suns in the first round. A few weeks later Bryant said: “I would like to be traded . ... At this point, I’ll go play on Pluto right now.”
2007-08 Record: 57-25; Playoffs: 14-7 A year after Bryant’s trademe tirade, the Lakers unexpectedly returned to the Finals before losing to Boston in six games. Bryant was clearly in his prime and he won the league MVP award as the Lakers successfully retooled, thanks to a midseason trade for Pau Gasol. After the Finals loss, Bryant said: “We got close and came up a little bit short. I’m excited about the opportunity to get back next year if we’re fortunate enough and have a different result.”
2008-09 Record: 65-17; Playoffs: 16-7, NBA champions The seven-year title drought ended as Bryant won his first NBA Finals MVP and collected his first championship without O’Neal. After the Lakers clinched the title in Orlando in Game 5, Bryant said, “I can’t believe this moment is here. They won’t see us as losers. L.A. is brutal, man. Now when I go to Disney World and Disneyland, I can enjoy the moment . ... Now I’m just ecstatic, like a kid in a candy store.”
2009-10 Record 57-25; Playoffs: 16-7, NBA champions The Lakers beat the hated Celtics in Game 7 of the Finals, moving within one championship of the 17 claimed by Boston. Magic Johnson said he was glad to be joined in the five-ring championship group by Bryant. “I think that he earned a right to have a statue out front,” Johnson said, referring to Bryant and Staples Center. “When you win five championships for the Lakers ... he’s proven his greatness.”
2010-11 Record: 57-25; Playoffs: 4-6 Forget a three-peat. Jackson called the season his “last stand” as coach. The team’s roster was aging and in their second-round playoff series, the Lakers blew a 16-point lead at home in Game 1 against Dallas. Six days later, Jackson’s coaching career ended amid a wave of “Beat L.A.” chants in Dallas when the Mavericks swept the Lakers with a 122-86 victory, on their way to winning the title. Bryant called this season a “wasted year of my life.”
2011-12 Record: 41-25; Playoffs: 5-7 On the eve of a lockoutshortened season, commissioner David Stern nixed the Lakers’ trade for AllStar point guard Chris Paul. An unhappy Odom was sent to Dallas. In Mike Brown’s first season as coach, the Lakers won their division but needed seven games to eliminate Denver in a firstround series before being overwhelmed by Oklahoma City. In what turned out to be Bryant’s final playoff game, he scored 42 points in Game 5 at Oklahoma City. “We all know he’s getting older but he can still play,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “The window is still open.”
2012-13 Record: 45-37; Playoffs: 0-4 The Lakers traded for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard and fans talked of another dream team. Then Nash suffered a broken leg in the second game, sustained nerve damage and was never the same. Brown was fired after a 1-4 start. Mike D’Antoni replaced him, after the front office spurned an offer by Jackson to return. Howard and Bryant never got along. Longtime owner Jerry Buss died in February. Still, Bryant had a spectacular season at 34, finishing third in the NBA in scoring and second in minutes per game. But on the last Friday of the regular season he suffered a torn Achilles tendon, effectively marking the end of his time as an elite player. The Lakers were swept by San Antonio in the first round.
2013-14 Record: 27-55 Before Bryant fully returned from his injury, the Lakers gave him a two-year, $48.5-million extension that hamstrung their salary cap. He rejoined the lineup in December, suffered a knee fracture that month and sat out the rest of the season after playing only six games and a total of 177 minutes. “It’s my job to go out there on the court and perform, no excuses for it. Right? You’ve got to get things done. Same thing with the front office,” Bryant said.
2014-15 Record: 21-61 Another injury, another shortened season. “My knees are sore ... my Achilles are sore,” Bryant said in December. “Back’s tight. I just need to kind of hit the reset button.” He sat out eight of 16 games to rest. In January a sore right shoulder got worse when he dunked against New Orleans. The next week Bryant had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, ending his 19th season after playing only 35 games. He shot a careerworst 37.3% from the field. The Lakers endured the worst season in their 67-year history and missed the playoffs a second consecutive year. That hadn’t happened since the mid-1970s.
2015-16 Record: 17-65 Bryant announced in November this would be his final season and a farewell tour took hold across the league. On the court, the Lakers were a woeful mix of young players and not-so-great veterans as they stumbled to the worst record in their history and missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, another record. Meanwhile, their 37-year-old star nursed numerous injuries. “My ankles, knees, everything [hurts],” Bryant said. But he summoned one more star performance for his final game, scoring 60 points against the Jazz.