The Time Kobe Destroyed the NBA; Got Cheated out of the MVP

Kobe had one of his best overall seasons in the 2002-2003 season, a season which easily could have garnered an MVP award for Bryant. In this year, he matched Michael Jordan's 40 point game streak of 9 from 1986, with only Wilt posting two separate streaks (10 and 14 games) longer. But this season was one of the lower scoring seasons in NBA history, with average nightly scoring only at 95 points per game. The Lakers, coming off of 3 consecutive titles, started the year 11-19 and was only 23-23 with 36 games remaining. Kobe played all 82 games this year and averaged 30 points per game, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2.2 steals to lead LA back from their abysmal start to win 50 games despite Shaq playing only 67 this season.