Kobe Bryant: A Look Back at His Second NBA Championship

Kobe Bryant, Champion: NBA Finals 2001

2001 NBA Finals (Los Angeles Lakers vs. Philadelphia 76ers)

For the first time since the 1987-1988 season, the Los Angeles Lakers entered the summer as world champions.  The difference between the 2000 Lakers and the 1988 Lakers was that the latter's championship had been a repeat title.  Attempting to match that back-to-back feat is the challenge that stood before L.A. in the summer of 2000. 

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal had proven to be the ultimate hero-sidekick tandem in 2000, with Bryant providing suffocating perimeter defense and creativity, and O'Neal providing dominating inside play at both ends of the court.

However, this seemingly symbiotic rela...

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