Initially, I was going to write a story on how surreal and downright sad the last week has been, in the wake of the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and seven others. But i figure that would just lead to more sadness, numbness, and disbelief. A crying Jerry West and Shaquille O'Neal, and despondent Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss is just too difficult to consume.
Rather than revisit the tragedy that rocked the world from Los Angeles to Asia and everywhere in between, I want to look back on some of the great games from the distinguished, all-time career of Kobe Bean Bryant.
One of the games that I stumbled upon isn't an NBA Finals game, or a 50-60 point game. It happened on a Sunday afternoon in late January of 2011, when Bryant's Lakers hosted the Celtics' Big 3 in a clash of what was at the time the league's hottest rivalry, coming off a legendary 7-game Finals series the summer prior, where Bryant's Lakers recovered from a 3-2 series deficit to win in 7. Ironically, the incoming playoffs would represent the end of that rivalry in its most recent form, with the Miami Heat meeting the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of the 2006 NBA Finals. In this Kobe and friends matchup against the Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen-Paul Pierce trio, represented was everything good about league rivalries and the ultra competitive spirit that Kobe was all about.
The Celtics, who would actually win the game, went in to the contest with a 35-11 record. Their team was without defensive stalwart Tony Allen - who had left in free agency to the Memphis Grizzies - and had two big additions in the middle in both Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neal. The Lakers, who would win 57 games that season (one better than the Celtics' total of 56), came into the game with a 33-14 record. Bryant was coming off a 38 point, 7 assist, 4 rebound and 3 steal game against the Sacramento Kings two nights earlier.
The starters for this contest were Rajon Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, and Shaquille O'Neal for Boston, and Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum along with Kobe for the Lakers.
Bryant, as became customary when playing the Celtics, was guarding Rondo. The game got off to a slow start for both sides, as the Celtics led 8-4 after 4 minutes of play. After Pierce missed a layup, Bryant received the ball from Artest, who rebounded the Pierce miss. Bryant brought the ball up on the right side of the floor, right hand dribble, switched to his left once he got by half court, and, when he got inside the three-point arc, he took two dribbles to the free throw line, pump faked Allen, rose up to shoot, and drew the foul. It would be Allen's second foul of the day. Bryant, who had been averaging 25.1/5.0/4.9 so far on the season and coming off of off-season knee surgery (he was averaging just 33.2 minutes going into the game), made his first and left the second attempt short.
On the next Celtic possession, he recovered a Fisher strip of Marquis Daniels - who had checked into the game for Allen - at the free throw line, and drove 3/4 length of the court, finishing with a layup in the lane, over Pierce, for point 3. After a Rondo make, Bryant brought the ball up the court again, took two left hand dribbles - using a Bynum screen - to get beneath the arc, and rose up and stuck the jumper over the contest of Daniels. He then missed a jumper and picked up his second foul on a reach in, checking out of the game with 6:46 remaining in the opening quarter.
With 9:26 remaining in the half, he would check back in, with the Celtics holding a 32-25 advantage. He was guarding Nate Robinson, who backed up Rondo at the time, and was lining up alongside Steve Blake, Lamar Odom, Gasol, and Luke Walton. Bryant's next basket came when he caught the ball on the right side (inside the arc) on a pass from Odom, pivoted to square up Allen, and drove right with two hard dribbles before rising and banking the shot off the glass. 7 points in 8 minutes.
With 4:54 remaining, Bryant forced Rondo into a wild drive and layup attempt, and took the pass off of a Gasol rebound, dribbled up past mid-court, and then drove right, initiating contact from O'Neal and Glen Davis and drawing the foul on a layup bank attempt. Free throws good. 10 points on 4/6 from the field. 40-36 Boston.
After blocks on Garnett and O'Neal by Bynum and Gasol, Bryant took the ball again up the floor, right side, crossed over to the free throw line, gave Rondo a little bump to create space, and rose and hit on another jumper, the ball bounced high off the front of the rim and dropped in. 12 points. Celtic lead cut to 1 at 42-41.
A right side three ball over Pierce with 2:43 remaining gave the Lakers a 44-42 edge. A 13-2 LA run, and 15 points for Bryant on 6/8.
Preceding his next bucket, he caught a pass from a Fisher on the left side at the three point line. He gave a pump fake and jab step to Allen, and dribbled left to just outside the key, pump faked to get O'Neal in the air, and hit the jumper, drifting out of bounds, while taking the bump from O'Neal. A long glare at O'Neal with a smile and some friendly trash talk with Garnett, too. Free throw good. 18 points. Lakers up 3, 2:01 remaining in the half.
With 1:15 left, Fisher brought the ball up left side and threw into Bynum who caught the ball at the left elbow. Bryant had came to the ball from the top of the arc, and initially dropped the pass as the ball fell to the floor. Bryant secured it off the hardwood, and kept a live dribble with his left hand as Bynum set a screen right on Allen. Bryant reversed, dribbling with his right hand now, and took two dribbles into the lane before being met by Celtic big man Kendrick Perkins. Bryant took another two dribbles, executed a jump stop, leapt, and then laid the ball up over Perkins and a contesting Garnett. ABC announcer Mike Breen expressed what we all were thinking, with "Bryant weaving his way inside, so pretty, finding all the seams." 1:02 remaining the half, 20 points.
With the Lakers up 4, 52-48, and 19.9 seconds remaining, Bryant would check back into the game. On this play, he was point guard all the way, winding down the clock above the three point arc as Daniels guarded. He signaled Steve Blake to leave his spot on the right corner three, and, as Bynum came up to set a screen, darted towards the baseline. Perkins stepped up, and, now facing the double, Bryant retreated to behind the three, dribble kept. He crossed over Daniels, and then, facing Perkins, spun into the lane to avoid the big man. Bryant rose up, hung in the air while Daniels contested but then couldn't hang as long. So Bryant released, and was fouled by Daniels. All in one play, it was a synopsis of some of what made Kobe Bryant great. The handle to keep his defender off balance, the quick spin to get out of the double team, and the awareness to draw the foul and add more points as the first half drew to a close. After the foul call, Bryant walked toward half court, looking at the crowd and shaking his head as if to say "these guys can't guard me".
Free throws good. 22 points. Glen Davis added two free throws, as he was fouled on a half court heave, that cut the Laker lead to 4, 54-50, at half.
On the Lakers' first possession of the second half, Fisher, receiving the ball from Gasol off a rebound, threw to Bryant on the right wing three. Bryant caught, and, guarded by Garnett, gave a jab step and swung the ball from his left side to his right, and elevated for the three over the contesting arm of his good friend. Shot good. 25 points.
With 4:47 left in the quarter, Pierce rebounded a Fisher corner three point miss off of a Bryant pass, and outleted to Rondo, who had leaked out when Fisher released his shot. Bryant hustled back as Rondo drove for a layup. Attempting to draw a foul on Bryant, Rondo dribbled hard and drew contact and elevated for a layup. Bryant stood his ground and drew the offensive foul. A small play in the grand scheme, but one that points to Bryant's defensive capabilities and willingness to play that end. He and Michael Jordan are the only two players in history to be at least 10 time All-NBA First Team, and 9 time All-NBA Defensive First Team.
With the Lakers down 72-67 with just under 3 minutes remaining in the 3rd, Bryant threw the ball to Bynum from the left wing, who then turned and passed to Odom above the arc, who was guarded by Garnett. Odom took one dribble right, and Bryant came around above the arc on the left side as Bynum screened Allen. Bryant caught, turned, and drilled a three. 28.
1:03 left third quarter. Bryant with the ball, left side from about 18 feet out. He pivots, now facing the basket squared up and guarded by Pierce. Bryant gives some head movement and brings the ball from his left to right, takes one right hand dribble and rises from just outside the key. Bottom. 30. 11/17 from the field. The third quarter ended with the Celtics up 77-72.
Bryant's 32nd and 33rd points would come on a jumper in the lane with 6:58 to go. He had caught the ball on the left side just outside the key, and backed down Pierce all the way into the lane, and rose, drawing a foul in the process. Free throw good. 33 points.
Rebounding a Garnett miss with 6 minutes to go, Bryant brought the ball up on the right side, sized up Pierce as he reached the three point line, crossed over between the legs to his left hand, took one dribble, absorbed contact from Pierce and hit a short jumper. 35.
Down 91-85, Bryant caught a pass from Blake on the right wing, above the three point line. He drove right by Pierce, and took two more dribbles before a jump stop found him in the lane. Crowded by Garnett and Davis, Bryant went up and laid the ball in his with left, taking the contact. 37. The Celtic lead was cut to four and they called a timeout.
After a Garnett lob from Rondo, it was the Lakers' turn to call time as they trailed by 11. Coming out of it, Bryant caught a pass from Blake right above the free throw circle, back to the basket. He pivoted on Allen, squaring up. He took one right handed dribble before crossing back left, gave Allen two pump fakes, a bump, and nailed the jumper. 39. On the next defensive possession, Bryant would play strong man to man defense on Pierce, stripping Pierce as he tried to spin off, with the ball going off Pierce's leg and out of bounds.
Bryant's last two points of the night would be very similar to his previous basket on Allen. Posting near the right elbow, catching an entry pass, back to the basket. Taking two dribbles left to the just below the free throw line, elevating and hitting.
Bryant's final line: 41 points (16 of 29 from the field, 3 of 5 from the three point line, 6 of 7 from the free throw line), 3 rebounds.
The game wasn't a complete statistical game from Bryant, nor was it an astronomical scoring number. The Lakers didn't even win the game, losing 109-96. What I think the game represented, though, was Bryant's complete and total offensive game, as well as his competitiveness. Every single time Bryant touched the ball, he showed everything in his toolbox. Ball handling, three point shooting, mid-range game, post game, footwork, being strong enough to finish through contact. Watching him play was like watching Picasso paint the perfect portrait, each planned move done with purpose and precision, smoothness and detail. In a rivalry as great as that Celtic-Laker one was in that time period, Bryant, like the other Hall of Famers with him in that game, exuded ultimate competitiveness - few laughs and few expressions, but just a will to get things done. Whether it was Pierce or Allen guarding him, he hit them with an array of moves that kept them guessing, while being so good that even when opposed with good defense, he still scored.
Two days later against the Houston Rockets, Bryant would go for 32 points, 11 assists, and 6 rebounds on a cool 13 of 25 from the field in an 8-point win. On March 23 in a home win against the Phoenix Suns, he would score a season-high 42, adding 12 rebounds and 9 assists, playing 48 minutes in a three overtime thriller.
He would go on to average 25.3 points per game that season, along with 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He would eclipse the 30 point mark 23 times that year, have five games of double-digit rebounds and five games of double-digit assists.
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