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Los Angeles Lakers: Building the all-time Kobe Bryant teammate team

By Jason Reed

Shaquille O'Neal (L) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers talk during the 1st quarter of game two of the NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets 07 June 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. AFP PHOTO/Lucy NICHOLSON (Photo by LUCY NICHOLSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Shaquille O'Neal (L) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers talk during the 1st quarter of game two of the NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets 07 June 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. AFP PHOTO/Lucy NICHOLSON (Photo by LUCY NICHOLSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

Kobe Bryant has had some great teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers.

Kobe Bryant is regarded by some to be the greatest player in Los Angeles Lakers history and he certainly has the resume for it. One MVP, two NBA Finals MVPs, 18 all-star nods 15 All-NBA honors and five championships.

Every superstar has a laundry list of great teammates that helped them accomplish what they did in the league and it is no different for Kobe Bryant. Bryant had some great teammates throughout the years and you could create quite the starting five of Kobe teammates without Kobe even on the team.

Thus, we decided to build our all-time Kobe Bryant teammate team. We factored in things such as longevity as well as performance and we are picking one specific year for each player as their model year. It had to come while being a teammate of Bryant, though.

Kobe Bryant’s best point guard teammate on the Los Angeles Lakers: Derek Fisher (2001-02)

You could make the case that Nick Van Exel had better overall years late in his career that is better than Derek Fisher’s best year with the Lakers but because of his longevity with not only the Lakers but with Kobe Bryant, he has to make the team as the starting point guard.

Fisher was there for all five championships with Bryant, across two different stints, and has had some really notable moments with the Lakers. The peak of Fisher’s career was his 0.4-second game-winner in the playoffs against the rivaled San Antonio Spurs.

Fisher ranks fifth in Lakers’ history in total games played, second in three-point field goals and seventh in steals. He was never an all-star point guard, and never was that close to being one, but he was a solid and reliable point guard that fit perfectly alongside Bryant.

To determine Fisher’s best year, we weighed two things as the most important: points per game and three-point shooting. The 2001-02 season presented the second-most points per game that Fisher scored as a Laker but the best three-point percentage (41.3 percent) that he had in his entire career.

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