Lakers 2015-16 Season Roster Grades: Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant gets a free pass.

If you look at what Kobe did for the Lakers this past season in a vacuum, he was truly quite awful. He shot a horrid percentage from the field for the majority of the season while also stifling the ball-movement in the offense and taking possessions out of the hands of the young players that could use them more toward the benefit of the organization by trying to further develop.

However, it’s also impossible to look at Kobe in a vacuum. He’s a special case in the purest sense—that’s what playing 20 years in this league and playing all of those seasons as a member of the Lakers earns you.

What’s more is that he made all of the hardships and rough moments worth it with the great ones. Whether it was him lighting up the Celtics one last time, willing himself to put up 30 points on a number or occasions, or of course the grand finale at Staples Center when he put up 60 points in the final game of his career, those moments from a Lakers legend outweigh anything else.

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Because of all of this, it’s impossible to grade Kobe Bryant other than to give him an A+ in the highest sense for his career, thank him for the memories and wish him well as his time with the Lakers has now sadly concluded.