The 10 greatest L.A. Lakers of all time -- No. 4: <br/>Kobe Bryant
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Continuing our countdown of the 10 greatest L.A. Lakers of all time as chosen by our readers. No. 4: Kobe Bryant (157 first-place votes, 47,466 points)
If you don’t know anything about Kobe Bryant, then where have you been the last few years?
Bryant came to the NBA right out of high school and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, who then traded him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.
Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons and, in 2006, scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
He won the regular season Most Valuable Player award for the 2007-08 season and won his fourth NBA title in 2009, leading the Lakers to their fifteenth title and winning his first NBA Finals MVP award.
On the Lakers’ all-time list, Bryant is second in games played (1,021), eight in free-throw percentage (83.8%), ninth in rebounds (5,410), third in assists (4,766), second in steals (1,554), seventh in blocked shots (564), first in points (25,790), fourth in points per game (25.3) and seventh in assists per game (4.7).
-- Houston Mitchell
Previously:
No. 10: Jerry Buss
No. 9: Shaquille O’Neal
No. 8: Wilt Chamberlain
No. 7: Chick Hearn
No. 6: James Worthy
No. 5: Elgin Baylor