That's changing the discussion. Of course they played a key role. It's a team game. The Bulls probably don't win the last 3 titles without Rodman. They probably don't win the first three without Grant. They would have won a few of those, but no way do the Bulls win 6 titles without Rodman/Grant. My guess would be 4. The Lakers had similar players who filled their roles nicely.

Kobe was needed, but he was not the most important piece of the puzzle. Dwayne Wade stepped right into Kobe's role and filled it better with a Shaq that was already slightly on the decline.

I'm not arguing that Kobe wasn't very important. He was. He just wasn't the best player on his own team for any championship(until he wins it this year). Pretty much every award and accolade shows that. It pretty much drove Kobe Bryant crazy at the end.

I made my final determination that Shaq was the best player on that team when Shaq went to Miami and won the title. It turned out that Wade was a budding superstar, but Shaq once again almost won the MVP award. Nash barely beat him out for it. This was the third guard that Shaq had played with who became a superstar. Not a coincidence.

I have no problem giving Kobe Bryant his due, which he deserves for this season, but I can't go back and re-write history. Kobe Bryant is the best player in basketball, but that was not the case when they won the titles. He wasn't even the best player on his team.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

But no one will argue that Gasol is better than Kobe.
No one will argue that Pierce is better than Garnett.

That's why you can't say "he wouldn't have won without this guy". You can say that he was the best player on a championship team.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

This discussion has gone on long enough. If you want to go against pretty much everything that was said, awards won, and defensive gameplans and think that Kobe was on the same level of Shaq in the three title years that's fine. I understand that Kobe was great. Scottie Pippen was great too. It doesn't change the fact that most of the basketball world agreed that in those title years, Shaq was the more feared, more dominant, and better player. There was no media conspiracy to give Shaq regular season and Finals MVP awards. He was just flat out better.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Since you want to bring stats into play, here's another post I made about playoff stats.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I see no playoff season where Kobe outperformed Shaq. Never in scoring and in no category did he have a dominant number like Shaq did in rebounds. Statistics are also on my side.

Also, the fact that Parker won the MVP over Duncan doesn't help your case. If Tony Parker can win a finals MVP over Duncan, why couldn't Kobe win one over Shaq?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Slightly different situations because Wade was clearly the best player on that team.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

What are you talking about? I assume by 2001 finals you mean from the 2000-2001 season.
Here are Shaq and Kobe's game logs for those 5 games.
Shaq:
Pts Reb Assists
44 20 5
28 20 9
30 12 3
34 14 5
29 13 2

Kobe:
15 3 5
31 8 6
32 6 3
19 10 9
26 12 6

Kobe and Shaq both had one game where they missed a triple double by 1 assist. The rest they hovered with 6 or less assists. Shaq on the other hand had a double double in every game and two games where he put up 20 rebounds. By my rough estimate, Shaq would have averaged about 34 and 17 rebounds. That's all time great numbers for a finals.

I don't really see where you are coming from in this one. Shaq was putting up amazing numbers.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Plus Daniel Gibson didnt exactly make the degree of difficulty very high last year.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul