BACK ON TOP (2008–09)

In the 2008–09 season, the Lakers opened the campaign by winning their first seven games. Bryant led the team to tie the franchise record for most wins to start the season, going 17–2, and the Lakers went to 21–3 by the middle of December. Bryant led the Lakers to several key games against contenders for the NBA title, including a 92–83 win against Boston on an anticipated Christmas Day matchup, a 105–88 win against Cleveland on January 19, 2009, and a 6–0 road trip dating from January 30 to February 8, 2009 (which included two more respective wins over the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers). As a result the Lakers remained the top seed in the Western Conference standings the entire season.

Bryant continued his dominant play in the season, earning his eleventh consecutive All-Star Game start and again positioning himself as one of the front runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player award. Bryant was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for December and January in addition to being named Western Conference Player of the week three times. In January, Bryant recorded 2 triple doubles to bring his career total to 16. These were the first two triple-doubles for Bryant since 2005. During the 2009 NBA All-Star Game, Bryant who tallied 27 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals was awarded All-Star Game co-MVP with former teammate Shaquille O'Neal as the Western Conference All-Stars defeated their Eastern counterparts, 146–119 Bryant also had another notable scoring season. February 2, In a road game against the New York Knicks, Bryant scored 61 points on 61% shooting in a 126–117 win. Bryant's scoring outburst set a record for the most points scored at Madison Square Garden, breaking Bernard King's record. Bryant's performance was also the highest single game point total of the 2008–09 season in the NBA.^[125] By season's end, Bryant had moved from 21st to 17th place on the NBA All-Time scoring list, passing (in chronological order) Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley, Robert Parish and Charles Barkley.

The Lakers finished the season first in the west with a 65–17 record, and finished second overall in the NBA. Bryant was runner-up in the MVP voting behind LeBron James. Bryant was also selected to the All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team for the seventh time in his career. Due to an extended playoff run in the previous year and playing in the 2008 Summer Olympics, Bryant played almost 3 minutes less per game than last season. This resulted in a slight decline of most of Bryant's stats.

The Lakers started the playoffs on April 19, 2009 against the Utah Jazz. The Lakers won that series 4–1. In the second round, the Lakers faced the Houston Rockets, prevailing in seven games, 4–3. In the third round, the Lakers faced the Denver Nuggets winning the series in six games, 4–2. The victory earned the Lakers their second straight trip to the NBA Finals and Bryant's 6th overall. The Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the Finals to become the 2009 NBA Champions. Bryant was awarded his first NBA Finals MVP trophy upon winning his fourth championship, becoming the first player since Jerry West in the 1969 NBA Finals to average at least 32.4 points and 7.4 assists for a finals series and the first since Michael Jordan to average 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for a title-winning team in the finals.