Kobe Bryant refused to watch the iconic 81-point game for a reason
On January 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Toronto Raptors. The guard/forward dominated the floor against the Raptors and led the team to double-digit wins against their opponents. It is worth noting that Bryant’s brilliant performance that night is second only to an NBA legend, namely Wilt Chamberlain when he played for the Philadelphia Sixers in 1962.
‘Employee #8’ Scored a career-high 81 points that night, including 55 in the second half and a whopping 23 points in the final minutes. As the Lakers unveiled the Kobe Bryant statue outside Crypto.com Arena, it was revealed that the pose of the image was a replica of what Kobe did that night. However, it is surprising that the star of the California team was reluctant to see his best game.
In an interview with ESPN in 2013, ‘izzo’ revealed, “To this day, I have never seen that game. I don’t feel the need to watch it. What Am I Going to Learn?” The iconic game at Staples Center made a case for his electrifying ability and sheer ‘Mamba Mentality.’
However, just days later the legend witnessed his spectacular 81-point game. Apart from this, he also posted some hilarious tweets on his Twitter handle while watching the game.
KOBE’s hilarious tweets while watching his 81-point game for the first time https://t.co/UBjCCQkdPO pic.twitter.com/wCbq0IOb7e
– ballislife.com (@ballislife) 22 January 2024
Toronto Raptors guard Jalen Rose, who was assigned to guard Bryant that night, had nothing but praise for his perfect play. Brant did not resort to any trash-talking, chest-beating or even gesturing at the crowd. It appears that what NBA fans saw that night was a sheer display of classy play.
Kobe Bryant missed 18 shots while playing against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006
Kobe Bryant recorded 81 points in his 42 minutes on the hardwood. He achieved 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals and 1 block. Additionally, he recorded 28 of 46 field goals and 7 of 13 3-pointers. Not only this, he could score 18 out of 20 free throws. Overall, he took 46 shots, while missing 18 field goals from deep, 6 3-pointers and 2 free throws.
It is worth noting that Bryant personally outscored Toronto’s team 55-41 in the second half. Since Kobe has already recorded 40+ minutes in the last 4 games, the team did not allow him to record more minutes on the hardwood. Well, legend claims that if he had stayed on the floor for about 48 minutes he would have come close to the 100-point score.
Which Lakers player recorded the second-highest scoring game behind Kobe Bryant?
If one were to delve deeper into the history of the NBA, one would find that Wilt Chamberlain had scored 100 points in an NBA game. Kobe’s performance of 81 points ranks second only to this score, and no Lakers player could score more points.
However, two players were able to put up a good performance of 71-points and 66-points respectively. On November 15, 1960, Elgin Baylor scored 71 points against the New York Knicks. He became the second Laker to score such a big score in a single game. And then, there was Wilt Chamberlain’s 66-game performance against the Phoenix Suns in 1969.
