January of the 2002-03 season passed quickly.
As February arrived, the NBA schedule officially passed its halfway point. By this stage of the NBA season, many things had begun to take shape.
With the season halfway over, a series of stories unfolded across the league.
Countless superstars and dark horses took turns writing their own stories in this legendary league.
Iverson had seven straight 40+ games.
Garnett put up 30+30.
Grant Hill recorded triple-doubles in five consecutive games.
Carter once again delivered a dunk for the ages.
And other legendary stories unfolded one after another.
This was a golden age!
After Michael Jordan's generation of players left the league, the NBA had once again entered an era of dazzling stars and fierce competition this season!
And the brightest star of all was undoubtedly Kobe!
The star among stars!
Kobe had won Player of the Month in both November and December, delivering one of the greatest performances imaginable at the start of the season.
With consecutive triple-doubles and team victories, Kobe had put together an extraordinarily legendary start.
As Yao Ming hit the rookie wall and the Lakers' record cooled off, people began to think Kobe's numbers would gradually decline as well. After all, the last player to average a triple-double was Oscar Robertson, and few believed Kobe could maintain a triple-double average through the end of the season.
Even so, Kobe's performance over the first two months had been dazzling enough to leave countless basketball legends amazed.
Kobe's first two months had been nothing short of phenomenal, but even the most fanatical Kobe fans did not believe he could sustain that performance for an entire season.
Time slowly moved into January.
In January, Kobe was like a god of slaughter. Against the NBA's best defensive team, the Indiana Pacers, he