Welcome to Greatest Rivals!
Each Wednesday, this page will pitch two great rivals against each other to finally find out who the real winner is! Over the coming weeks, this page will cover many great rivalries, from the glory of el Clasico to the back and forth action of some of Wimbledon's finest performers.
Wednesday 24th March - Kobe Bryant vs Phoenix Suns
Not often on View From The Bridge do we compare one man to an entire NBA franchise, but for Kobe, I think it's more than warranted. On multiple occasions, the Laker legend voiced his hatred for the Suns and as spectators, we were rewarded with a rivalry that played out over an entire decade.
In 2000, Kobe and Shaq had established themselves as the greatest one-two punch that the NBA had ever seen. So it's no surprise that when both teams met in the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the number one seed Lakers easily shrugged off the fifth-seeded Suns in 5 games (4-1). Kobe averaged 21 points across the 5 games and played Robin to Shaq's Batman in the remaining 2 series to clinch the duos first title as a pair.
This would be the last series that Kobe won over the suns in their next 2 meetings during the playoffs. An internal collapse cost the Lakers from moving on again in 2006 when they blew a 3-1 lead to the Suns led by MVP recipient Steve Nash. Despite Kobe averaging over 30+ points per game during the regular season and 27+ points in the series, he performed painfully in the series-deciding game 7 - hitting a single shot in the second half.
History repeated itself the very next year when the Lakers saw another first-round exit at the hands of the Suns and were defeated in just 5 games (4-1). Despite Kobe performing to an MVP level and arguably being in his prime, averaging 32 points per game, the pieces around him were not at the level to take down the high performing core that the Suns had developed, with All-Stars Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire leading that way.
However, the revenge story is always the one that people remember, and luckily for Kobe and the Lakers, a hard-fought 6 game series in 2010 is the one that sticks in peoples mind. With both teams at their peak and a spot in the NBA Finals at stake, Kobe led the way with one 30 point performance after another - defeating the Suns on their home turf in Game 6 and winning the series 4-2. This would be the last time the Sun's franchise made a playoff appearance, and 2010 represents that last opportunity the Suns ever had at winning a ring.
Over the course of 20 NBA seasons, Kobe played 64 games against the Phoenix Suns and to my surprise only averaged 26 points per game, a stat line that is buried beneath a mountain of other scoring records against the likes of Golden State or the Trailblazers. But what made this decade long series special wasn't the stat lines, but the immortalisation of a man who despite being denied a championship for nearly a decade, got the ultimate revenge on an entire NBA franchise by refusing to let them win a ring at all.
That - is Kobe Bryant.
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