Wow, time flies. It's been 5 years since 81
Kobe Bryant talks about 81 game
DENVER -- Saturday will mark the five-year anniversary of the night Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in Los Angeles against the Toronto Raptors, the second-highest single game point total in NBA history.
"I just remember we were down 16 points to a bad Raptors team and we had just lost I think to Houston the game before and it was just kind of doom and gloom. We needed to win and I just got hot," Bryant said Friday after shootaround in preparation for the Lakers' game against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers ending up winning the game 122-104 against a Toronto team that had a record of just 14-26. Los Angeles actually trailed the Raptors by 18 points early on in the third quarter before Bryant really went off, scoring 51 of his 55 second-half points from that point on. Bryant scored 14 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 27 in the third and 28 in the fourth.
"That game we needed to win," Bryant said, remembering the Lakers record was a mediocre 21-19 coming into the game. "We kind of broke away towards the end there, but it was a tough one for us."
Bryant's 81-point game trails on Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game on March 2, 1962 for the highest single-game scoring output in league history.
Bryant's feat came during the 2005-06 season when he averaged 35.4 points per game, the highest single-season average since Michael Jordan put up 37.1 points per game in 1986-87 with the Chicago Bulls.
Bryant tallied 21 games with 40-49 points, four games with 50-59 points and two games scoring more than 60 that season.
"Phil [Jackson] had asked me that year, I had a couple games where I was hot and the one against Dallas, he asked me if I wanted to stay in," Bryant said.
The game against the Mavericks was on Dec. 20, 2005, about a month before Bryant's historic night against the Raptors. He outscored the Mavericks single-handedly 62-61 after three quarters and Bryant and Jackson agreed it was appropriate to sit him out for the fourth quarter with the Lakers leading by 34 points.
"Phil's been really cool about stuff like that," Bryant said.
Bryant has continued to be a top scorer in the league in the five years since the historic night. He is 52 points away from passing Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) for eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
Bryant has maintained that the only number he is focused on, however, is adding to the five championship rings in his collection.
"I really don't think about it too much," Bryant said. "I still don't know how the it happened, to be honest with you. It's just one of those things, I guess."
Still, Bryant shared some sentimentality regarding his scoring feat on the eve of the five-year anniversary.
"That was the first game and only game [my grandmother has] ever been to in the NBA and it was my grandfather's birthday that had passed away," Bryant said. "So, there were a lot of things at work."
Bryant added how honored he was when the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame requested the sneakers he wore that game to put on display and revealed he has the jersey he wore against the Raptors on display in the trophy room at his house.
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lolz BUMP lolz lolz
So a guy at work joked that someone should have the email address [email protected].
So randomly today I figured I'd enter www.hotmale.com into my browser, yup, not good..
You mean you clicked on "favorites" and selected the top most site? Hey how did that get there?
5th grade - I'm in "computer lab" for a social studies class.
The computer lab is a pretty large room - 30 computers or so (one for each student), and one "master computer" that displays everything on the projection screen at the front of class.
We're supposed to be researching about the French Revolution. I'm on the "master computer."
My friend tells me to go to an awesome research site he's just found, frenchrevolution . com
I get ing inundated with porn pop-ups with pictures of big breasted nude french women, all of which is being displayed on the master screen. Surprisingly enough, nobody saw it, not even the teacher. Everybody fortunately had their back turned.
Bryant: Not much at stake historically other than MJ's six rings, Kareem's scoring record, Magic's "Greatest Laker Ever" le and Jordan's undisputed le as the GOAT. You know, just the usual stuff. Even with some subtle signs of slippage -- specifically, his 3-point accuracy and his willingness/ability to get to the line, both reflections of an ailing right knee -- when I caught him in person on Tuesday night (the Utah blowout), it looked like the same Old New Kobe to me: he scored 21 points in 26 minutes, controlled the game and even shifted into Eff You Mode once (when Raja Bell angered him in the third quarter, prompting Kobe to demand the ball and then shoot a gorgeous 12-foot turnaround in his mug).He's gone from being a breakaway running back to being one of those guys who grinds out 4.4 yards a carry. Keep the chains moving. That's all he does now. It's like he calculated exactly how many jumps his knees had left, put his last 435 or so quality bursts in reserve like Vin Diesel's nitrous canister in a "Fast and Furious" movie, then vowed never to break one out unless he absolutely needed it. On a breakaway in the third quarter on Tuesday, with fans screaming for a dunk, Kobe jumped off two feet and gingerly shoved the ball through the rim. Sorry, everybody. You can't waste that nitrous canister switch in a blowout.
Maybe he'll never soar through the air like he once did, and maybe he no longer has the luxury of saying, "We need a basket -- I think I'll just beat my guy off the dribble, get into the paint and beat their big guys to the rim" like you or I would decide to go grocery shopping. But Kobe's arsenal of Jedi Mind Trick upfakes, stutter-steps, spin moves and start-and-stops rivals everything Jordan had. He brings it every quarter and every play, much like Jordan did, which is the highest compliment you can give somebody. And he knows Gasol, Fisher, Odom and Bynum so well by now that, as crazy as it sounds, Kobe's chemistry with his teammates might be his single best asset.
You could say he's delivering nearly the same production as before, just in a slightly different way: a less dominant version of Jordan's final Chicago season. For All-Star Weekend next month, NBA.com is creating highlight reels from every Kobe season since 1997; these sneak peeks from 1998 (his second season, when he had Griffin-like ups) and 2005 (his athletic prime) illustrate how much his game has changed over the years. Kobe 1.0 relied on phenomenal athletic ability alone. Kobe 2.0 blended that athletic ability with a scorer's mentality. Kobe 3.0 was basically Kobe 2.0 with better teammates and a better at ude. Now we're watching Kobe 4.0, someone who should be slipping ... only he wouldn't let it happen.
Of course, if you believe what Kobe told Peter Vecsey last week in a rare interview, his body is starting to break down. Kobe admitted that he didn't practice for the first two months of the season and "has very little cartilage under his right kneecap, it's basically bone on bone." Hmmmmmm. Could there be some gamesmanship there? Why would Kobe -- the guy who kept everything under wraps for so many years, the guy who tried to pretend last spring that beating Boston didn't matter because he didn't want to show any signs of weakness -- suddenly be admitting his mortality and pulling the Fred Sanford Memorial "Look Out Elizabeth, I'm Coming To Join You!" routine?
Whatever his shelf life looks like, one thing's for sure: We've never seen anyone do this before. No perimeter player has ever made first- or second-team All-NBA after passing the 1,200-game mark; Kobe will almost definitely do it this year. He's going to hit 27,000 points next week in a season in which he passed Oscar, 'Nique, Ice, Hondo and (this weekend) Hakeem on the list. And he's fighting off The Change like nobody since Karl Malone.
Full confession: I never liked Kobe. (Crap, you knew that. I forgot.) But it's tough watching any great player go through The Change. Especially in basketball, the most naked of our professional sports: Just 10 players wearing sleeveless jerseys and shorts, with fans sitting as close as three feet away and devouring every expression, every nuance, every move, everything. When a baseball player slips, we give him the benefit of the doubt: Maybe it's a slump, maybe it's his catcher, maybe his arm is bothering him, maybe he's playing in the wrong ballpark ... you could never definitively say, "Write that guy off." Same for a football player: Maybe his quarterback sucks, maybe his hammy is bothering him, maybe it's the offense, maybe it's the system, maybe it's his offensive line, maybe it's his coach. We realize after the fact football players are washed up, or right at the very end. In basketball, you know right away.
I thought that day was coming for Kobe Bryant. He had other ideas. So did Nash, Pierce, Nowitzki and Allen. Everything we ever thought we knew about basketball is being rewritten. Twelve-year primes are going to stretch to 15. Fifteen-year careers are going to stretch past 20. The 20,000 Point Club will become the 30,000 Point Club. It's not just that records will be made and stretched, or that we'll be seeing things we've never seen before. For the first time, basketball records might actually start mattering beyond "100 points," "72 wins," "33 straight," "11 rings" and "However Many Points Kareem Ended Up With."
And if you want to think about something truly frightening, consider the following four things ...
1. LeBron James passed 16,000 points a few weeks ago. It took him fewer than 600 games.
2. Barring injury and a prolonged lockout, by the end of his 10th season (2012-13), LeBron should be sitting at 22,000 points.
3. If LeBron plays the next seven and a half seasons 85 percent as well as he played the previous seven and a half seasons, he'll be sitting at 30,000 points, 7,500 assists and 7,500 rebounds ... and he'll be 33 years old. A few months older than Kobe right now.
4. Like it or not, we are all going to be witnesses.
That missed layup of Manu led to 4 straight Portland points!
But of course Manu with a tre!
I predicted a tough game but time to get this one Spurs - Spurs real close several times to extending a lead so get one now and extend it!
oops wrong thread but Kobe is Mr Assist man tonight!
Top four Lakers reactions to the McDyess tip caught on video
Written by Jeff Garcia | 05 February 2011
All eyes were on San Antonio Spurs' Antonio McDyess after he made the game winning tip-in for the Spurs against the Los Angeles Lakers this past Thursday.
Spurs fans were cheering across the globe as they saw McDyess' teammates rush to mob him on the court and witnessed Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich crack an elusive smile.
However, if you rewind the video of McDyess' tip-in, a lot happened in 4.6 seconds for Spurs fans to savor. More directly, Spurs fans can savor Lakers' heartache as the McDyess tip fell through the net.
With that being said, follow along with the video below to see the top four Lakers' reactions to the McDyess tip-in.
4. Lakers' assistant coach Chuck Person raises then lowers his arms. At the 13 second point of the video, watch the Lakers' sideline as former Spurs' player, now Lakers' assistant coach, Chuck Person raises his arms in triumph after Tim Duncan misses the shot but suddenly lowers his arms when the tip-in goes through.
Hit the jump to see who made the top three spots.
3. Gasol leans on the bench at the 1:05 second point of the video above.
2. Lakers fan crumbles to his knees. At the 58 second point of the video, keep your eyes to the left of the screen and on the fan in the white Lakers jersey. Watch as he falls to his knees when he sees the ball fall through the basket.
1. Kobe pouts. Right when McDyess' tip-in goes through, keep your eye on Kobe Bryant at the 15 second and the 1:01 point of the above video. Watch as he pouts by throwing his arms down and walks off in disgust. In a word: priceless!
Bryant up against Nadal, Messi and Iniesta for Laureus
Awards to be announced in Abu Dhabi tomorrow
* By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
* Published: 00:00 February 6, 2011
Dubai: American basketball star Kobe Bryant will be up against the best of Europe in the form of Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Rafael Nadal and Sebastian Vettel and Asian boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao when the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year is announced in Abu Dhabi tomorrow evening.
Running for glory in the womens' category are Americans Serena Williams and skiing champion Lindsey Vonn against the likes of Europe's best that includes Kim Clijsters, Caroline Wozniacki, Jessica Ennis (UK, athletics) and Blanka Vlasic (Croatia, athletics).
The Laureus World Sports Awards honours the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year with the winners selected by the sports jury consisting of 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. The proceeds from the Laureus World Sports Awards directly benefit the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation which supports 83 community sports projects around the globe.
There is a two-part voting process to find the winners of the Laureus World Sports Awards.
Categories
At first, a Selection Panel of the world's leading sports editors, writers and broadcasters vote to create a short-list of six nominations in five categories: Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, Laureus World Team of the Year, Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year and Laureus World Comeback of the Year.
The nominations for two additional categories, namely the Laureus World Action Sportsperson of the Year and the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability are produced by Specialist Panels.
The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy then vote by secret ballot to select the award winners in all seven categories.
With Nelson Mandela as its patron, Laureus was founded by its Richemont and Daimler and is supported by global partners Mercedes-Benz, IWC Schaffhausen and Vodafone.
Even if Kobe won his 6th ring, he still wouldn't be considered the GOAT. Maybe he would surpass Magic, but still be slightlly behind Jordan.
I think that's well established. I just hope analysts will be consistent and won't go oh lebron is better than ing jordan when he's around the 6-ring range
Lebron will never be in the 6th ring conversation. Maybe 3 tops imo.
uhhh ok... does the thought of that happening really bother you that much? GOAT is an opinion. It bothers you that much that some would consider Kobe the GOAT that you have to argue it months or years before it even happens? Wow.
#1. Kobe is not, will never and was not considered GOAT by anyone or anything with a living cell.
#2. LOL Cobbler
#3. GOATS dont shoot 6/24 in Game 7's.
#4. GOATS dont play sidekick for three straight years
#5. GOATS does not have a 45% career FG shooting
#6. Yes I'm a welcher and Yes you're a gimp.
#7. GOATS does not need Superstar Big Men to bail him out in the Finals
#8.
#1. Kobe is not, will never and was not considered GOAT by anyone or anything with a living cell.
#2. LOL Cobbler
#3. GOATS dont shoot 6/24 in Game 7's.
#4. GOATS dont play sidekick for three straight years
#5. GOATS does not have a 45% career FG shooting
#6. Yes I'm a welcher and Yes you're a gimp.
#7. GOATS does not need Superstar Big Men to bail him out in the Finals
#8.
As I have gone on record many times with my opinion that neither Jordan or Kobe are the GOAT your retort falls on deaf ears. In fact I don't have Jordan or Kobe in the top 3. You replied to a post where i asked if it bothered the guy that much that people would have opinions that Kobe is the GOAT. Cause when he passes Jordan in rings, many will. That it bugs the out of the likes of you .... is priceless!
Your reading comprehension is about at the same level as your character and integrity. What a loser.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...belakers021011Kobe full of fuel for le drive
By Adrian Wojnarowski
As the volume rises on the criticism of Kobe Bryant, the chorus causes him to feel far more invigorated than invalidated. The call to deconstruct a championship legacy is a right of passage for a generational talent. The debate rages over his reputation as a clutch performer, over his propriety in five Los Angeles Lakers championships.
Pay no mind when he tells you he never listens to it because he’s too much within the hysteria that surrounds him. Rest assured, he ingests it.
“People kind of get bored with things that I’ve done, so they try to find new ones to talk about or try to find numbers to justify certain things,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday. “That’s what happens when you win. I remember Magic and Michael [Jordan] going through similar things. Hey, the talk before was that I couldn’t do it without Shaq. Well I did that. And then I did it again. Now it’s something else. They’re always going to come for something else.
“But I win. We win.”
After the Los Angeles Lakers practiced on Wednesday, Bryant wore a black ski cap, ankle tape and a bemused grin in the bleachers of Emerson College. Here, he spit out his metaphors through the stark prism with which he sees the game. Bryant still believes this season will come down to big shots because it always does. He still believes that ball belongs in his hands because those moments have always belonged to him.
“If somebody had their life on the line, and they’ve got their options on who they want to save their life – tell me who you’re going to pick?” Bryant asked. “You’re going to look at the stats first?”
Keep Reading...
Actually the GOAT absolutely could be someone who's a 45% FG shooter for his career. Kobe's not the GOAT though. But he is really good at basketball.#1. Kobe is not, will never and was not considered GOAT by anyone or anything with a living cell.
#2. LOL Cobbler
#3. GOATS dont shoot 6/24 in Game 7's.
#4. GOATS dont play sidekick for three straight years
#5. GOATS does not have a 45% career FG shooting
#6. Yes I'm a welcher and Yes you're a gimp.
#7. GOATS does not need Superstar Big Men to bail him out in the Finals
#8.
Legendary Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant attends his hand and footprint ceremony at the Graumans Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California on February 19, 2011. Bryant become the first athlete to have his hands and feet imprinted at the legendary Graumans Chinese Theater. He joins over 200 stars including Marilyn Monroe, Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith, Harrison Ford or John Wayne who have had their hand and footprint ceremonies.
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