Kobe Bryant Calls 2010 Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals His Favorite Playoff Series

Assuming Kobe Bryant's days on the championship stage are over, at least he'll know he saved his best trip for last.

That was just one of the gems the Mamba shared before his Los Angeles Lakers squared off with their historic rivals, the Boston Celtics, on Friday.

Bryant, who's played in seven NBA Finals and won five of them, said his favorite championship round was L.A.'s 2010 meeting with these same Celtics, via Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:

That 2010 series is my favorite series of all time, just because it was the most competitive one. It was the most difficult one. I mean, we’re going against four future Hall of Famers. That doesn’t happen too often.



That championship clash wound up being a seven-round slugfest.

Bryant's Lakers had supreme motivation to perform. Not only did they have a title to defend from 2009, they had the bitter taste of defeat to wash from their palate after dropping the 2008 Finals to the Celtics.

Bryant dazzled in the 2010 series, averaging 28.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.1 steals en route to his second consecutive Finals MVP award.

He also helped knot the latest chapter of this rivalry, and he wasn't happy to see the offseason trade of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce erase his chance at a tiebreaker:

It was tough to see that happen. I mean, going against Paul and KG, Lakers-Celtics? That’s good basketball. When we played against them, you saw really good basketball. You saw smart players, unselfish players who played both ends of the floor, multi-faceted players.

The old matchups, in Bryant's opinion at least, had everything.

A legendary past as rich as any in this game's history. Hall of Fame talent on both sides of the floor. And, perhaps, his next-favorite fanbase after the Purple and Gold faithful:

I love it. I love going into Boston. I love playing t...

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