NBA | Kobe gives MJ fans one final brilliant performance to bitch about

Before walking off the court a final time as a player, the Lakers' Kobe Bryant scored 60 points in a brilliant performance to close out his NBA career.

60-POINT MEN

Listed by how many times an individual totaled that in an NBA game:
​

32
Wilt Chamberlain

​6
Kobe Bryant

5
Michael Jordan

4
Elgin Baylor

1
Carmelo Anthony
Rick Barry
​Larry Bird
​Tom Chambers
Joe Fulks
George Gervin
Allen Iverson
​LeBron James
Bernard King
Karl Malone
Pete Maravich
Tracy McGrady
George Mikan
​Shaquille O'Neal
David Robinson
David Thompson
​Jerry West

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FOR THE RECORD

Highest single-game point totals in history of NBA:

100
Wilt Chamberlain

​81
Kobe Bryant

78
Wilt Chamberlain

73
Chamberlain (twice)
David Thompson

72
Chamberlain

71
Elgin Baylor
David Robinson

70
Chamberlain

69
Michael Jordan

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Take a deep breath and open your eyes.

It’s over, Michael Jordan worshippers. Your king’s throne remains his own, safe and sound. The threat is gone. Long live His Airness.

But the Mamba made it interesting there for a while and put on one heckuva final show, didn’t he?

We can kid ourselves all we want with claiming others as “greatest ever,” be that paying homage to the past in Wilt Chamberlain, or grudgingly admitting greatness with the current generation in LeBron James, or going kooky with the latest in Steph Curry. The reality is, push coming to shove, there only have been two names to consider for quite some time: Mike and the one belonging to that ball-hogging punk who went off for 60 points Tuesday night in his grand NBA finale.

Not for nothing, but Kobe Bryant never had a chance with the masses in this “fight.” He always was going to lose any debate over who was the best, because he wasn’t the first and he was forever going to be compared to the first, and if he didn’t obliterate every single number posted by the first, while achieving things in an even more spectacular way, just forget it, no shot.

Frankly, that was impossible, not only for the fact that Air Jordan’s stat line, from career scoring average to championships won, was so mind-numbingly awesome, but that Kobe, essentially, was a carbon copy of the dude. You ever see a player who looked so much like their idol, from shape, size and body frame to how they moved?

Both 6-foot-6, both 210 pounds or so, both perfect examples of the classic sleek, streamlined, sinewy basketball player coveted by coaches, possessing cat-quick reflexes as they glided across the court at cheetah speed. Able to play anywhere on the court. Able to do anything on the court. Better than anyone else on the court.

Indeed, Kobe, if nothing else, was MJ 2.0.

Younger and, frankly, at times, better.

(Oh, no he didn’t … umm, yeah, he did.)

Always chuckled at the concept that Kobe somehow benefitted from personnel around him in a way Jordan never had, as if he had it easy with Shaquille O’Neal vying for the spotlight, and the ball every trip down the floor, while Mike had to “struggle” with Scottie Pippen at his side, the ultimate complimentary star, happy to play Robin to Jordan’s Batman at every juncture.

Gotta say, Bryant won a couple NBA crowns without the big fella. Jordan didn’t do any such thing without Pip. Oops ...
​
Bottom line, though, MJ took home six trophies for the Chicago Bulls before his 15-year career came to a close in two ho-hum seasons with Washington to Kobe’s five in 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 30.1 points per game in his career to Kobe’s 25. He averaged more rebounds, more assists, more steals and more blocked shots, too.

Not a lot more, either. But more.

Statistically, he shot better from the field as well – although that’s a fact somewhat skewed considering shooting percentages from the field include 3-point attempts and Kobe took 5,546 from beyond the arc to Mike’s 1,778.

Both were great defenders, multi-time NBA scoring champs, slam-dunk champs, annual all-stars and NBA first-teamers.

But Mike was the first, the one who became the standard for incredible athleticism morphing with killer instinct to form near individual perfection driven to produce team-championship results. So, for most, he always will be the best.

Even if Kobe’s exit was the grandest ever, giving some a final panic attack, or reason to bitch, in the process.

Rest easy now, Jordan worshippers. It’s over.
​
Mamba out.

​- Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

GIVE IT UP

Love the non-love for Kobe.

Even with a brilliant, see-ya-later effort to end his NBA career, the negatives are non-stop, on the personal front, which, sorry, don’t give a rat’s ass about when it comes to judging a basketball player’s performance on the court, to his actual performance on the court.

Really, you got an issue with what he did Tuesday night … with any of it?

Yep, took 50 shots. Sure did. He also made 22 – which comes to a 44 percent shooting percentage.

Considering he’s a lifetime 44.7 guy, seems pretty reasonable … and considering he’s a broken-down old man by NBA standards, at age 37 with bum wheels and a bad shoulder, seems pretty incredible.

You know, take away his 6-for-21 from behind the arc and you’re looking at a 16-for-29 shooting effort in the game. Pretty good. You’re also looking at a 42-point game and a Lakers loss, but we digress …

Did you know Kobe scored 17 straight Lakers points down the stretch, rallying them from a 10-point deficit to grab a 99-96 lead and then delivered a seal-the-deal, length-of-the-court dish to finalize the victory? Did you know he made his final nine shots in the last 2:15 – four from the line and five from the field, including one from distance (that’s 15 points in 135 seconds for the mathematically challenged out there)? Did you know he had four assists, too, on a night his teammates told him not to pass?

Did you know your hero, Michael Jordan, totaled 15 points in his NBA finale?
​
Yo, enough already. Just give it up for Kobe. The guy was great and had an exit for the ages.

REMEMBER WHEN ...

All this talk about Kobe Bryant going off for 60 points (and Steph Curry popping in 46 to key Golden State’s record-setting 73rd regular-season victory) Tuesday night has me harkening back a few decades to recall, well, the greatest night for individual offensive achievement in NBA history.

It was April 9, 1978.

The incomparable, high-flying David Thompson, my favorite all-time NBA player, netted 73 points for the Denver Nuggets in one game … but lost the league’s scoring title for the season as the super-cool, finger-rolling George Gervin racked up 63 for the San Antonio Spurs in another to eke out the crown by a .07 points per-game average.

Funny thing is, both efforts resulted in losses for their teams. The individual “win,” though, started a four scoring titles in five years run for Gervin. Meanwhile, Thompson never led the league in that department despite being one of its most electric players the better part of a decade.
​
On that night the two have been forever linked, Thompson shot 13-for-14 in the first quarter to set an NBA record and 20-for-23 in the first half en route to tallying 53 points by intermission. His 32 first-quarter points were surpassed by Gervin’s NBA record-setting 33 second-quarter ones. Gervin, too, had 53 points at halftime, and – get this – didn’t even play in the fourth quarter once he had secured the scoring title in the third.