You have his first championship over the Pacers which is that defining moment where you get over the hump. The second title was arguably the most dominant run by a playoff team in NBA history. The third cemented those Lakers as a dynasty and only the third team to win three consecutive championships.
Then you fast forward to 2009 where Kobe won his first championship without Shaq and got his first NBA Finals MVP. Of course his last championship was an epic seven game war with the Boston Celtics.
So we asked Lakers Nation which Kobe championship was your favorite:
Overwhelmingly Lakers Nation enjoyed Kobe’s final ring the most as 72 percent of the 176 responses say they loved Kobe’s fifth championship the most. Without a doubt this has a lot to do with the fact that it was against the Boston Celtics.
After the 2008 Finals in which the Lakers were dominated in falling to the Celtics, gaining revenge over the Lakers’ biggest rivals really brought made this championship that much sweeter. The fact that this series was an absolutely gut-wrenching seven game series was also a far cry from the other four series in Kobe’s career.
The Sixers, Magic, and Nets were all overmatched and fell in four or five games making those series less memorable. The win over the Pacers was a battle but the Western Conference Finals against Portland was more memorable and epic than that series.
The Celtics series stands alone as the best series of the five, the most memorable, and with it being a revenge series against a hated rival, it makes sense that Lakers Nation love that series the most.
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