Jackson reconsidered after discussing it with Lakers assistant coach Frank Hamblen who told him, “There would be a riot.” This coming from the coach who nearly pulled Bryant from the game with the score out of reach after he’d scored 77 points - one point shy of Chamberlain’s 78-point mark set in 1961. I’ve seen some remarkable games, but I’ve never seen one like that before.” “That was something to behold,” Jackson said. 22, 2006, Kobe Bryant delivered an epic showing against the Raptors, torching them for 81 points.īut it was perhaps Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who’d spent nearly a decade coaching Michael Jordan, that put the performance in its proper perspective. Then-Lakers owner Jerry Buss described the game as “like watching a miracle unfold.” Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter was telling fans to save their ticket stubs. Teammates and staff alike were asking Bryant to autograph copies of the box score after the game. In a season Bryant led the league in scoring with 35.4 ppg, his game against Toronto had even the most seasoned NBA observers starstruck. To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying.” It’s about the `W,’ that’s why I turned it on. The accomplishment stunned even Bryant himself. As the Lakers scored a 122-104 comeback victory at home, Bryant finished with 81 points on 28-of-46 shooting, including 7-of-13 from 3-point range, and 18-of-20 from the foul line. That was until Kobe Bryant burned the Toronto Raptors on Januin one of the greatest single-game performances in NBA history. It seemed David Robinson’s 71-point game in 1994 against the Clippers was as high as anyone would ever reach again. Since that game, the 70-point margin had been crossed six times and just twice since 1963, but that was as far as it went. The fact that there were no television cameras to capture the event only added to the legend of the performance. When Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, the NBA world knew it would never see anything like it again. NBA.com takes a look back at the top moments that define the history of the NBA. Relive one of the best performances in NBA history: Kobe Bryant's 81-point barrage against Toronto in 2006.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |