CAREER

In 2001-2002 he appeared in a career-high 80 games. He registered an average of 25.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 38.3 minutes. These rankings led him to rank among the league leaders in scoring (6th/25.2), assists (19th/5.5), field goal percentage (34th/.469), free throw percentage (35th/.829), steals (27th/1.48) and minutes played (20th/38.3). He also shot a career-high of .469 (749-1597) from the field.  Kobe registered career-highs in free throws made (488) and attempted (589). During the same season he tied an NBA season-high after registering 18 free throws (18-20) 3/27 against the Phoenix. All these ratings led Kobe to be named Most Valuable Player of the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. He was also voted as a starting guard (fourth selection) on the Western Conference All-Star team after receiving 1,121,753 votes, the third highest tally among all players. Kobe also earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors for averaging 37.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists. He was also conferred the Western Conference Player of the Month honors for November.

In the 2000-2001 season he saw action in 68 games averaging 28.5 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 40.9 minutes. With all these high ratings Kobe ranked among league leaders in scoring (4th), field goal percentage (.464/37th), free throw percentage (.853/18th), and minutes played (40.9/7th). With all the high average score in the first half of the season he was named NBA Player of the Month for December. He averaged 32.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 16 games. He was also named NBA Player of the Week for games played between 12/18 and 12/24 for the second time. Kobe missed 14 games due to various injuries including a sore foot and a viral infection. He made appearance in 16 postseason games averaging 29.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 43.4 minutes.