Don't let Rich Paul's verbal diarrhea distract you from the fact that the 2001 Lakers are the Greatest Playoff team of all time:
- 15-1 Record; 8-0 on the road
- 13.7 Net Rating (NBA Record)
- Beat Four 50-win Playoff Teams
- Destroyed the #1 seed Spurs by 29 and 39 points respectively.
Playoff Stats:
Shaq: 30/15/3/2.4 blks/56% FG
Kobe: 29/7/6/1.6 stls/ 56% TS
Clutch Stats:
Shaq: 9 points on 34.4% TS
Kobe: 26 points on 62.7% TS
The 01 Lakers didn't just beat solid competition. They eviscerated them.
Kobe scored 50 pts in a playoff game and lost with this roster. Never heard excuses back then for him. Just more of He canโt win. The expected outcome was for him to make the Finals with this roster in the loaded Western conference. The standards were always different for him