"Half-Man, Half-God was never the basketball god who gave Kobe the most trouble back then," Kenny Smith remarked.
"He couldn't even force Kobe to go all out."
"It's been too long. Ever since Michael retired, it's been far too long since we've seen a guard who could truly match Kobe evenly. We thought Carter might be that guy, but he wasn't."
The Lakers unexpectedly swept this year's highly touted young team, the Vancouver Grizzlies.
Carter, the league's second-most popular guard after Kobe, failed to produce the kind of epic, era-defining duel that Jordan and Kobe once had when facing Kobe and the Lakers.
That left many people disappointed.
After all, Carter was one of the few guards since Jordan capable of challenging Kobe.
His dunks and strength were even superior to Kobe's.
In North America, especially in Canada, Carter was even more popular than Kobe.
But in the end, these Grizzlies still had little resistance against the Lakers.
Over the four games, Kobe averaged 35.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 3.4 steals, 1.5 blocks, and 2.3 turnovers.
It was obvious that Kobe had not even fully let loose. An average of 35 points was actually a low-scoring series by Kobe's standards.
Carter, meanwhile, averaged 25.9 points, 10.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.8 blocks, and 4.5 turnovers.
Carter had given everything he had, crashing the boards and battling physically like a madman. But against Kobe's defense, his 4.5 turnovers per game still could not help but disappoint people.
Moreover, his passing could not energize his teammates the way it had during the regular season.
For one thing, the Lakers' defensive chain had risen to an entirely new level after acquiring Ben Wallace.
Other than Nash being the Lakers' defensive weakness, it was difficult for anyone—whether perimeter players or big men—to