Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players to ever wear the Purple and Gold. But is he also the reason why the Los Angeles Lakers lost the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons?
According to a former teammate of his, that is exactly the case. Jeff Pearlman is writing a book about Kobe and the Lakers and interviewed an undisclosed former teammate of his for details of the doomed finals series that the Pistons won in a gentleman's sweep.
Pearlman got some interesting words out of his interviewee:
Interviewed a Kobe teammate for my upcoming book. We talked about 2004 Finals loss to Pistons. Much blame was placed on Karl Malone injury. Guy told me, "That loss was on Kobe. He wanted to be MVP of that series, and he just … kept … shooting."
— Jeff Pearlman (@jeffpearlman) August 28, 2019
It is interesting to see how this former teammate of his saw the series. The entire time, the injury Karl Malone sustained is pointed as the reason for the team's collapse. A quick look at the stat sheet provides support to the teammate's claims.
Kobe was the second-highest scorer for the Lakers in the series at 22.6ppg. He also had the second-highest assist totals at 4.4, just 0.1 behind Luke Walton.
However, the glaring statistic that even the most passionate Kobe fans cannot defend is his atrocious shooting percentages. He shot terribly, only making 38% of the 113 shot attempts he made over five games.
He was also a liability on the ball. He turned the ball over 18 times, four more than Shaquille O'Neal. However, the figures are understandable as he played the most minutes out of anyone in the series at 231 minutes played.
This series probably started the meme that Kobe would rather shoot than pass. Looking at it from another perspective, his stat line is proof of his hunger for glory. That hunger is his signature his entire career and just manifested itself badly in this series.
There is still no question that Kobe is a sure first-ballot Hall Of Famer. However, his teammate's words do put things into perspective.
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