In 2008, the Los Angeles Lakers went from mediocrity to title contention, only to lose in the NBA Finals to their archrivals, the Boston Celtics.
The loss was particularly humiliating, especially after L.A. blew a 24-point lead at home in Game 4 and lost the series in a 39-point Game 6 rout in Beantown.
Throughout the 2008-09 campaign, the Lakers were on a mission to fix what went wrong the previous June, and no one was more determined than their leader, Kobe Bryant.
They faced the Denver Nuggets, a very strong and well-balanced team, in the Western Conference finals, and the teams played each other to a standstill for nearly five contests.
In the fourth quarter of Game 5, L.A. finally found a few cracks in Denver’s armor and pulled away for a 103-94 win to take a 3-2 series lead.
The Nuggets had a chance to tie the series in Game 6 at home, but the Lakers refused to let that happen.
They won every quarter and ended up embarrassing Carmelo Anthony and crew in front of their home fans, 119-92.
Bryant led the way with 35 points and 10 assists, capping an incredible series in which he averaged 34.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game.
With his team back in the NBA Finals, he knew the real work lay ahead.
