Dr Pepper wrote: If Kobe was a more fundamentally sound player the Lakers would probably have had even more overall wins
Exactly. There is a reason why Laker fans (and Artest) begin each season expecting 70 wins and begin each playoffs expecting to sweep every series. On paper, a superstar with a supporting cast like Gasol/Bynum (or Gasol/Dwight) should be winning everything. Instead they were taken to 7 games by the ailing Celtics, and were trailing by double-digits for most of Game 7 in LA.
The thing I want to know is, if Kobe is a very good player then why is he shooting around 40% in each NBA Finals? Sure, people say "he won the rings, so what does it matter.....?" but he won with Shaq's prime form, then Shaq left and LA missed the playoffs one year, and were booted by Phoenix in the 1st Round, twice (including a game 7 disaster). Then they got Gasol, and the rest is history.