81 points ain't no fluke!!!

I’m not afraid to say that I’ve never liked Kobe Bryant. I don’t know what it was, but ever since he entered the NBA, something about him rubbed me the wrong way. A renaissance man compared to the average high school to NBA story. Living in Europe and the U.S., son of a former NBA star. Kobe would have led a charmed existence had he not been a basketball player. But Kobe was good. Better than good. Maybe it was that cocky smirk that only a child of privilege could have or the constant chucking of bad shots during his first couple of seasons. Whatever it was, I had serious anti-Kobe issues.



So of course, my jaw dropped when I saw the headline on ESPN.com. 81 points? Eighty-One points!!?? Kobe went the hell off! That man is ballin’ outta control!!

He scored every way imaginable. Mid-range jump shots, driving lay ups to the basket, dunks, 3-pointers, free throws. Any way the Raptors wanted it Kobe gave it to em’. He shot 60% (28/46) from the floor, including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. Kobe also added 18 of 20 free throws. Kobe had 55 points in the second half! That’s14 more points than the entire Toronto team, who clearly began watching Kobe instead of defending him. He brought the Lakers back from a 71-53 deficit in the 3rd quarter!!

This entire season has been a coming out party for Bryant. Bryant leads the NBA in scoring at 35.9 points per game. He has scored over 40 points 13 times this season and is averaging 45.5 points for the month of January. He scored 62 points against the Mavericks on Dec 20th and sat out the entire fourth quarter!!

To put Kobe’s performance in perspective here are a few facts:
• NBA teams have been held below 81 points 99 times this season
• Spurs have been held below 81 points both times they have played the Pistons
• Michael Jordan’s highest scoring game was 69 points (in OT)
• Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s (NBA’s all time leading scorer) highest scoring game was 55 points

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points on March 2, 1962. Wilt took 63 shots and scored 59% of his team’s points (100 of 169) that night. Kobe took 48 shots and scored 66% of his team’s points (81 of 122). If Kobe had taken the same amount of shots as Wilt, he would have scored over one hundred. Some make the argument that Kobe has the benefit of the three-point shot. I would argue that Wilt had the advantage of being 7’0 and the biggest person on the court. Kobe is a 6’7 small forward. Those hardly come a dime a dozen in the NBA. One can’t imagine how difficult it is for a wing player to score 81 points in a game considering he also has the responsibility of handling the ball and chasing his man on defense.

Maybe I’ve been too hard on Kobe. He came into the league when he was 17-years old and has been in the spotlight for most of his adult life. It’s not his fault that he’s supremely gifted.He's excelled at everything on the basketball court. Except for his few personal missteps (feud w/ Shaq, cheating on his wife, recording a rap album) Kobe has handled the glamour and glitz relatively well.



Some people would argue that Tracy McGrady and LeBron James are just as good as Kobe Bryant. Close, but I don't think so. McGrady is a scoring machine, but his defense is in need of serious improvement. LeBron has the potential to be even better, but he's not there yet. Kobe was the youngest player to reach 5,000 points (before LeBron broke the record last week). Kobe has three championship rings. Kobe has shown that he can impose his will on a game (regardless the level of competition). Was this the greatest performance I’ve ever seen? I didn’t see it. Was it the greatest performance I’ve been alive for? It most certainly was.

Shaq is still the most dominant NBA player, but last night Kobe Bryant showed us all who’s the best. It’s time for me and all of the "Kobe-haters" to stop hatin' the playa, because we love this game.