15 Underrated Seasons from The Past 15 Years (2003-2004 to 2017-2018)

1. Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, 2005-2006

Stats: 35.4 ppg, 4.5 apg, 5.3 rpg

Finished 4th(!) in MVP voting.

81 points. Nearly single-handedly pushing the highly-regarded Suns to brink of elimination. In what is undoubtedly one of the most awesome individual seasons of all time, Kobe’s 05-06 season will never fly under the radar. There are still many who are claiming that he is the true MVP of that season, especially after comparing his stats with Steve Nash’s, the MVP of that season. Some even go as far as diminishing Nash’s accomplishments, which is unfair. (Along with the unheralded Shawn Marion, Nash led the Suns to 54 wins after losing Amar’e to injury)

But when you look at the grand scheme of things, what Kobe did in his three midlife seasons (that down time between the Shaq trade and the Pau Gasol acquisition) was remarkable, peaking in 2005-2006. He would take the challenge of facing double teams (except in his 81-point game, if you can believe that) night-in night-out, with only Lamar Odom as his truly reliable teammate in terms of creating offense. The responsibility he carried every game was so heavy, but he responded by averaging almost 36 points per game while being guarded by the opponent’s best defender every single game. If that’s not underrated, then I don’t know what is.