A post from an Instagram fan page dedicated to former Los Angeles Lakers big man Shaquille O’Neal highlights how dominant he and Kobe Bryant were side by side during the playoffs.
The post – which O’Neal also shared – purports to list the eight best duos from all playoff games in league history. It’s worth noting, however, that the post appears to only include playoff games that ended in a championship.
O’Neal and Bryant averaged 59.8 points per game in the 2001 playoffs. Additionally, they averaged 55.1 points per game in the 2002 playoffs.
Bryant and O’Neal led the Lakers to NBA championships in 2001 and 2002. They also finished the job in 2000.
In the 2001 playoffs, the Lakers completely dominated their opponents, as Los Angeles swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round before doing the same against the Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs in the next two rounds.
The Lakers did not lose a playoff game until Game 1 of the NBA Finals, when they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by six points thanks to a 48-point performance from star guard Allen Iverson.
But after losing the first game, Los Angeles won the final four games of the series and eliminated the 76ers in five games.
O’Neal, Bryant and the Lakers faced more adversity in the 2002 playoffs than the previous year. After quickly eliminating their first two opponents – the Trail Blazers and Spurs – Los Angeles faced a talented Kings team led by Chris Webber in the Western Conference Finals.
The Kings pushed the Lakers to the brink of elimination as Sacramento took a 3-2 series lead after winning Game 5. But Los Angeles won the final two games of the series and beаt the Kings in Game 7 by six points.
After this hotly contested Western Conference Finals series, the Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals to win the franchise’s third consecutive title.
The individual numbers of O’Neal and Bryant, combined with the team success the Lakers achieved during their time as teammates, make a strong argument for these two players as one of the best dominant duos in the history of this sport.