Grading Kobe Bryant for the 2015-16 NBA season, his last with the Lakers and in the league
Perhaps one of the most complicated and conflicting things about the past season with the Los Angeles Lakers was looking at and trying to assess what was happening with Kobe Bryant. On the one hand, you’re talking about a player who put the franchise on his back for the better part of two decades. On the other hand you’re talking about a player who was well past his prime as he played his final season in the NBA.
No disrespect to the Lakers legend, but he was just downright bad in regards to his statistical production this past season. In the 66 games he played this season, Bryant averaged 17.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game sure, but he did so while shooting abhorrently from the field. Kobe converted on a mere 37.3 percent of his overall attempts this past season and made only 28.5 percent of his threes despite taking an absurd 7.1 per game. It was tough to watch for Bryant at times.
However, it’s incredibly difficult to look at this season with any kind of harshness considering the history and the moments that Kobe provided.
Between what he accomplished in the final game of his career, what he did at singular points throughout the season, and what he’s meant to the lakers over the past two decades, trying to genuinely assess and grade Kobe Bryant for the 2015-16 NBA season is near impossible. However, I tried my best to do so.
Let’s move on to the final grade to see where we landed with Kobe.
Next: The Final Grade
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.