Why wasn't kobe great in his first 2 seasons?

Question

Is he a late bloomer. Even when he was on the floor in his limited playing time he didn't really have big numbers.

Answer 1

yea allen iverson used to be better than kobe enough said

Answer 2

It's not that he wasn't good, but it was just that they simply didn't need his help to help the team. All those guys you listed joined a team during a time in which they were struggling to find a go-to guy, but the Lakers had Shaq, at that time the most feared big man in the NBA. He was definitely worth Vlade Divac, and it was just a matter of time before he was himself again.

Answer 3

Honestly I'm not trying to defend Kobe right now, but it's understandable that he had low numbers his rookie season. Mainly because he got drafted into a good team, which greatly limits his playing time. If Kobe basically got the team handed over to him (for example Lebron, Carmello, and Kevin  Durant) then he would have probably had similiar numbers. I honestly don't like Kobe, but I have to admit he's the best the NBA has right now.  

Answer 4

Dude, Kobe averaged 7.6 points in 15 mins.  15 mins aint a lotta mintues.  

There was already other guys on the team that were controlling the basketball and mainly O'neal who averaged 26/12 that year, Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones.  

The "greats" inherited a crappy franchise which needed them. Carmelo, Lebron all had teams that had a vacant leader spot which asked them to pour in 30+ minutes in their first season.

Look at Kevin Durant last year, he had a better rookie year than Kobe, should we be saying Durant will be better than Kobe cuz of his rookie year?

Who cares if Kobe didnt do well in his rookie year.

Answer 5

Kobe entered the league at 18years old skipping college. MJ, Magic, and Bird all played at least 2 years of College.

Answer 6

do you call 15 min. a game a lot of playing time u moron, Magic, bird, jordan, lebron, and melo were all starters and they all played most of the game. Do the math he average about 7 a game for 15 min a night lets say he played 40 min a night that would be about 21 ppg.  

Answer 7

because the lakers did not want to put a lot of pressure on him. he was limited in action and there were no plays called for him.