I’ve done this before, but just re-going thru it all on paper one more time.
We all know his total numbers at this point, all legendary, but some of them are skewed a tad, because of being a teenager, and of course these late years with injuries and what not.
But from 1999 thru 2013 when that Achilles popped, 15 years total, he was a MONSTER. And possibly shows why being ranked #12 by ESPN is a little lite.
As a starter, 1,089 games in 15 years, he went for
29,858 points (27.4)
6,201 rebounds (5.7)
5,597 assists (5.1)
1,705 steals (1.6)
556 blocks (.5)
On 46%/36%/84%
Not quite 50/40/90 but for a “chucker” that averaged 5 boards, 5 dimes, and played All NBA defense to boot, a few percentage points short of 50/40/90 isn’t too shabby.
Among that, the 81, 62 in 3 quarters, 56 in 3 quarters, 4 total 60 point games, 24 50 point games, 120 40 point games, and over 400 30 point games, with 169 double doubles, and 19 triple doubles, as well as an NBA record 12 3 pointer game to boot. And countless game winners.
His peak season came at age 24 when he went nuclear on the NBA 30 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 45/38/84 with career highs in games, steals, blocks, rebounds, and assists.
Not to mention, he did all this fighting thru a broken hand, shoulder, knee, court cases, ankle, finger, wrist, pinkie, and then eventually the Achilles. He missed 93 games in 15 years, some of them were rest, some suspension, and then a few due to injury.
He also lost some from NBA lockouts, 32 games in 1999, and 16 games in 2012. But I didn’t count those as missed games, because they were never played by anybody. Moreso the point is, HAD he played those games, at the pace he did, his numbers would be even filthier than they are now.
In total, with lockouts, rest, injury, suspensions, he missed out on a total of 141 possible games those 15 years. That’s almost 2 full seasons. ON TOP of what he did. At the averages he had, he could have been lookin at somewhere around 34K points, 7K rebounds, 6,600 dimes, 1900 steals, 650 blocks, and over 1,700 three pointers. (note, he eventually gets to all these numbers, but does so with more games at his earliest and oldest ages, weakening his per game averages.)
BTW, this is all just regular season. His playoff totals and numbers are nearly identical. I haven’t sat down and done all the math yet, but same point 1999-2012, his numbers are GAUDY. And improved without all those playoff games where he played 6 minutes as a teenager and destroyed his per game averages.
And those 15 years, Lakers went to the Finals 7 times. Kobe played under Rambis, Phil, Rudy, Phil, Brown, MDA. With Shaq era, with Smush/Kwame/Luke era, with Pau era and his final year with Dwight/Nash/Pau in and out of the lineup era. Multiple coaches, multiple injuries, multiple cores, look at the steady work that man did. For 15 seasons. Age 20-34.
It’s funny, 20 years, 2 jerseys, 10 years #8, 10 years #24, each one have similar numbers/splits for each. Regular season, playoffs, all his numbers fairly similar. Road game in Minnesota in November, or home game at the end of May, young or old, the guy gave you 25-5-5 every single night, across almost 1,700 NBA games. With various ailments, teammates, or coaches. He played every game, hard as he could go that night, and produced damn near identical numbers, no matter the opponent or situation. His two teenager years, and these last couple injury/retirement years the only exceptions.
Does anyone realize that in the history of the NBA, the entire history of the league, nobody has a 15 year stretch that matches this?
