Los Angeles Lakers: All-Time NBA Finals team

Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant

Critics use the fact that Kobe Bryant wasn’t “The Man” on all of his championship teams to detract from his career resume, but it could be argued that it’s more impressive that Kobe adapted to being both the leader and the sidekick and was successful in both situations.

Kobe won his first three titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002 when Shaq was Finals MVP each time, along with winning one league MVP and a scoring title. Kobe had his share of Finals moments, but Shaq was widely viewed as the top guy on those teams. Kobe also gets a lot of blame for L.A.’s Finals loss in 2004, when he shot poorly — and probably too much — in a series loss to the Pistons.

After Shaq was traded that same year, Kobe became the Lakers’ undisputed No. 1 option and remained “The Man” until he retired in 2016.

Kobe won league MVP and led L.A. to the 2008 Finals, where they lost to the Celtics.

He returned to lead the Lakers to back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, winning Finals MVP both times in wins over the Magic and the Celtics. His best performance was in 2009, when he averaged 32.4 points, 7.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game.