By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kobe Bryant had an outstanding NBA career, packed with great performances, electrifying moves and lots of winning.
He influenced people worldwide with small gestures as well as with historic accomplishments. Eurohoops will search back through the past two decades and single out ten most memorable moments of Bryant’s career.
Without further ado and in no particular order, the list is as follows:
“I’ll see you down the road”
Let’s start from the beginning and Kobe’s first All-Star game in 1998.
In January 2006, Kobe Bryant made the history books by scoring 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. This output remains the second-best offensive performance in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain’s 100.
Kobe could possibly have reached the 80-point mark a bit earlier. In December 2005, he scored 62 points in just three quarters and 32 minutes. The “Mamba” simply sat out in the fourth period so who knows how many he’d score if he played in the whole game.
It was just a matter of time for Kobe Bryant to pass Jerry “The Logo” West in the all-time scoring list of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe did so in 2010 against the Memphis Grizzlies in a 44-point performance. Check out how Jordan Farmar didn’t score the basket in transition and instead let Bryant do so.
The beginning of the modern Lakers‘ dynasty. After scoring a couple of key baskets that helped the Lakers come back from down 15 in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers, Kobe sent the alley-oop pass to Shaquille O’ Neal for the slam. The basket “locked” the win and the qualification to the Finals.
After losing to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 Finals, it became personal for Kobe Bryant to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the title. Kobe and the Lakers won the title in 2009 by beating the Orlando Magic in the Finals, and then had their “revenge” over their historic rivals in 2010.
Bryant won Finals MVP in both years.
Kobe’s resilience sometimes went to the extreme. In 2013 and in a game against the Golden State Warriors, a 34-year-old Bryant tore his Achilles while attempting a drive to the basket. Despite the injury, he remained on the floor to take, and make, the two free throws while visibly being in huge amounts of pain and barely holding back the tears.
You’ve all seen this one. Matt Barnes tried to intimidate Kobe by faking throwing the ball at his face with the inbounds pass. Wrong move. Bryant didn’t flinch.
After Team USA’s failure to make the Final in both the 2004 Olympic Games and the 2006 World Cup, the “Redeem Team” was formed with Kobe Bryant as captain. Kobe and USA proceeded to win gold medals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Kobe’s professional career ended in a fashion fitting to a mega-scorer of his caliber: 60 points against the Utah Jazz on 13 April 2016.