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A Lakers Blog. Thoughts, reflections, and the odd rant on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA (even the Clippers).

Preview & Chat: Lakers vs. Jazz

by


This is it. The end of a season. The end of a career. Both of these carry meaning, but only one of them really matters to me today.

Thank you to Kobe for a wonderful 20 years with the franchise I root for. There has been much written and said over the years, but there has been way more good than bad and the highs provided are ones which will stick with me forever.

I really have nothing else to add. Enjoy the game, folks. Regardless of the outcome and the final score, I know I will.

Where you can watch: 7:30pm start time on TWC Sportsnet and ESPN2 nationally. Also listen on ESPN Radio 710AM Los Angeles.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert says

    Kobe Alert: Kobe Bryant is not just my favorite Laker of all time, he is my favorite athlete of all time. Like many of you, I had the chance to watch Kobe’s entire career from start to finish and what a show it has been. For me, Kobe was able to exceed Magic (my previous ATF) in terms of how hard I rooted for him and how intently I followed his career (and that is saying something, because I was a trash talking terror during the Showtime days). I remember the first time I saw Kobe was in a photo from his high school days, where he was dunking, and the sheer look of determination on his face made me think that he was special. I rooted for him from day 1; screamed at Del Harris to put him in, and I went to edge of my seat every time he got the ball. I was a Kobe Rules guy from the beginning, and will confess that I always liked him more than Shaq (nothing against Shaq). I saw Kobe play numerous times live. A few highlights (sorry for those who have heard these before): Sat in VIP B and saw him move by Hakeem for 8th on the scoring list at Staples with 21 points in the first quarter (I got in the background of a photo that was on the cover of the LA times Sports), sat in Row 1 in Philly when Kobe got by Shaq for #5 (was right behind Kobe when he and Fisher embraced after the moment – I am the 3rd guy in that photographer’s photo), sat right behind Byron in Minny when KB moved by MJ for #3 (have a couple of photos where I am almost literally in the Laker huddle and in numerous videos of that historic night), In DC I was sitting right behind the basket and was standing right behind Kobe in a photo that appeared on a couple web sites and a magazine. I saw 2 triple doubles live, saw 5 forty point games, saw Kobe play against MJ twice, and literally sat right behind KB on several occasions (VIP A at Staples and equivalents in a few other cities). I am not a guy who hounds celebs so I have never had what I would call a conversation with Kobe, but trust me, he has heard me talking to him on a number of occasions and even shot me a glance a couple of times (which is tough to do with Kobe).

    So this is a very sad day indeed. End of a very unique and successful era. Can’t say I thought it would end this way (over the past several years), but there a large number of things about Kobe’s career that were not easily predictable. For starters – he is the only guard to ever play 20 years in the NBA, and the only player at any position to play 20 years for the same team. Only 4 other players have played 20 years. He will end his career 11th in games played and 6th in minutes. While his longevity is impressive, we all know where Kobe excels is on offense: Kobes will finish 3rd in points scored, 5th in FG’s, 3 in FGA’s (sorry BCS he did not catch Malone), 7th in three pointers, 3rd in FTs, and 5th in FTA’s (he should get his 10,000th tonight). Kobe is 46th in defensive rebounds and needless to say is very lonely in terms of players his size and position on this list. He also finished 14th in steals. In spite of the Laker’s 3 year playoff drought, here are Kobe’s final all time playoff rankings: Games = 5th, Minutes = 3rd, FGs = 4th, Three Pointers = 4th, Free Throws = 2nd, Dimes = 9th, Steals = 5th, Points = 3rd. I will not go through all the All Star records, but let’s just say – Kobe was born to play in and owns the All Star Game. However just a couple : ), 4 MVP’s, and 18 times named as a started, 2nd in points, 1st in FGs, and 1st in Steals.

    Where to rank Kobe all time? I have him 3rd behind only MJ and KAJ. This guy is a Boston fan and has him 5th.
    http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/04/kobe-bryant-final-game-lakers-jazz-espn-all-time-ranking-nba
    This is tough to do and there is not a correct answer, but Kobe is tied with KAJ for 15 times being named to the All NBA Team (most all time), He is tied with Karl Malone with 11 times being named as a starter – All NBA (most all time), He is tied for 2nd all time with the most All Defensive Teams and tied for first all time with the most All Defensive First Teams. He has 5 rings, 1 MVP (should have more), and 2 Finals MVPs. Before putting Kobe behind somebody on the all time list – check these stats for that guy. I will admit that 3rd is a higher ranking than most, and I will admit my bias, however if you have him lower than 7th or so then you probably need to check your own bias.

    Kobe was the most polarizing figure in the history of sport. An earlier post talked about nuance, however with Kobe, everybody had an opinion and it usually was a strong one (just look at this board). I did not see a lot of gray area, what I saw was people who either loved him or hated him with a vitriol (and that was just amongst Laker fans).

    The Lakers should retire both #’s 8 + 24. They should hang a standard jersey up so it is the same size and structure as the rest of the legends, however they should put both numbers on the jersey. How would you choose? If we picked one – he would have to be retired and will be mostly remembered as #8, however he had an entire second career as #24. Is any Laker going to ever dare where either number? No – they are effectively going to be retired, and so they may as well be on the wall.

    We are gonna miss you Kobes. I am not as old as some of you guys, but I did catch the very end of Jerry’s career so he was my first favorite Laker, then came Magic, and then came Kobe, each exceeding the last. I look forward to the next . Until then:

    KOBE RULES !!!!!

  2. Hale says

    The last Kobert Alert! Despite the air ball (most polarizing?) I’m sorry for your loss, Robert. This season was lesser for the meager amount of your alerts but it was totally understandable.

    Can’t say I appreciated Kobe’s greatness until right after Shaq shipped. It was only then I started to understand the intensity of work ethic, crafting and practice he put into his game. My eyes opened to how phenomenal he was. Maximizing his talents put him in that rarified air of transcendent players. To me, he is a unique virtuoso and as one his rank is Number Great.

    * just saw that Houston is beating the $%# out of Sac. No telling how deflating that might be for Utah and how it shows up in the game.

  3. david h says

    Robert: end of a chapter where one puts the book down to reflect on things that relate to one’s own life; the memories, the sights, the sounds, the smell which when combined elicit eulogy-like feelings as though a loss of a love one. I feel you.

    Go lakers

  5. the other Stephen says

    Thanks for the many Kobe Alerts, Robert. I’ll miss them.

    Some of my own thoughts about Kobe stepping away: I helped tutor a bunch of elementary school kids last night, and we began talking about basketball, our favorite teams and players, and if they were aware that Kobe Bryant was retiring. One kid said he was a Warriors fan, and I pretended to be hurt saying, “What, no Lakers?!” He retorted with, “you probably go like,” he mimed shooting a basket with his arms, “KOBE!” I had no comeback, but I was smiling, because something about hearing that phrase persist to this very day, such that even children are aware of the significance of those words, told me just how outsized Kobe’s legacy truly is.

  7. dogtown says

    Thank you Kobe.

    Thank you Darius.

    Thank you Robert (I’m only surmising you’re not in attendance @ Staples tonight, was kinda hopin’ for some behind-the-bench reports from you); the last Kobe Alert…time for me to thank you for bangin’ it so hard.

    I been here 10 years @ FB&G, lurking in the rafters. Like I did a few times at the House That Jack Built. Tonight, now I be dropping down like bat guano to say thanks. Kobe’s last game is as good a reason as there is…

    Too many emotions for me to add anything of value to the thread, except perhaps that I visit here religiously since I left LA, and am grateful to Darius for all that he does to keep this place going. And there are loads of you commenters, both new & old, that I enjoy reading.

    Kobe’s last game…dang.

  9. Tim says

    Thank you Kobe Bryant for the countless memories too numerous to mention, the memorable playoff runs and the 5 championships. Good-bye to one of the all-time greats, Kobe will be missed. Thanks again Kobe Bean Bryant.

  10. Sald0gg says

    I could put more words than I actually will, because it’d hurt too much right now. Kobe became my favorite player as a rookie at All-Star weekend. Then record 31 in the Rookie game (and no MVP) then the dunk contest winner. I was 10 years old and from that moment, I was hooked. Now, in the last month of my 20’s, I know that in a few hours I’m gonna be an emotional wreck, but all I can say is this. Thank you, Kobe. You were the athlete I always emulated and idolized and I will NEVER forget you. If the basketball gods exist, Utah leads by 1 with 5 seconds left. Laker ball.

  11. bluehill says

    Thanks for sharing the memories, Robert.

    Another thing about Kobe’s retirement that is meaningful for me is that I’m old enough where it’s unlikely that I’ll see another Laker superstar like Kobe. The Lakers will have other superstars and there are a couple of potential ones on the team right now, but Kobe was a star for 20 years on the same team, my team, and that is pretty rare. Tomorrow I’ll look forward to better days for the Lakers, but tonight I’ll look back at a remarkable player, a remarkable career and be grateful.

  12. KO says

    Nice job Robert.

    So next season csn we expect the Kelly alerts?

    Least it will be short each time.

    Kobe for 40 tonight.

  13. LKK says

    One thing for sure, the Lakers know how to put on a show. So glad they included Lamar Odom.

  14. david h says

    Anyone who name’s their dog after Kobe Bryant should tell you everything you want to know about how he feels about the man who’s being celebrated not only at staples center but throughout the basketball world tonite.

    Thank you Darius for this forum, makes the laker world just a little bit smaller and a whole lotta closer.

    Now, taking my Kobe h out for his nitely walk.

    Do we need a game?

    Go lakers

  15. Mid-Wilshire says

    The best going-away present for Kobe (this may be too much to ask) would be a win.

  17. bleedpurplegold says

    Ouch…brutal starting…hope kobe gets back on track, his shots are waaay off

  19. Barath Sundar says

    Kobe is trying too hard to get his shots. Ditto the other Lakers (to get him his shots)

    I think the first few minutes the emotion got to him like in the Celtics game 7

    Let the game come to you, Kobe. Kobe will get the shots anyway and get better shots and likely more points if they were slightly less focused on getting it up.

    Some of those shots turned back the clock, even the heat check 3.

    Others made me rather cognizant of father time ..

    Unfortunately both memories of this day…unless I skip the rest of the game for the highlights

    No one seems to care about sending Kobe off with a win..which is the saddest cut of them all.

    For the ultimate competitor to come to this… The 81, 62 in 3, the smush scoring years all were in service of wins.

    To see Kobe and the Lakers not care a whit about the win hurts

  21. Fern says

    Thanks for sharing Robert, really apreciate it. Can’t choose between Magic and Kobe, truly transendent players that defined their eras. Like i said in the other thread he is the last of his kind. In his last game he is going to score over 40 points. I don’t know of anybody else going out like this. I have a lot of things in my mind but I can’t express them im too overcome with emotion, they just wont come out. THANK YOU KOBE!!!

  24. harold says

    I was hoping he’d go out with 40+ points, but lol, be careful what you wish for. almost 50 shots to get 50 points…

  30. Barath Sundar says

    60 points, to get the Lakers ahead, 17 points straight, and Lakers with the win.

    Beyond ecstatic.

  31. Taft Jackson says

    OH my god you can’t write this stuff. I am so sad this legend is hanging them up but WOW. Way to pull it out Kobe. One last memory..

  35. bleedpurplegold says

    I am a grown man….and sitting here in tears of joy and sadness at the same time….thanks for this last masterpiece kob, you’ll always be in my heart….i am glad that he was able to go out this way

  36. Robert says

    Wow – 60 and a Win ! 6th sixty point game (2nd behind Wilt), 25th fifty point game (3rd behind Wilt and MJ), 122nd forty point game (3rd behind Wilt and MJ), 431st thirty point game (4th behind MJ, Wilt, Karl).

    Thanks for the responses everyone – very special night for Laker Fans.

  37. harold says

    44% isn’t too shabby considering his lifetime FG%. dang, he really changed the storyline of this last game really quick with the win… and eerie how the most memorable performances are going to end with free throws (81, achilles, last game).

  38. AusPhil says

    No words. I’m at work and almost crying (having to explain to my students (I’m a HS teacher)) why I’ve been totally distracted for the last 2 hours.

  39. DonFord says

    Wow – 60, really?! …. wow …

    Will miss Kobe, and huge shout out to Robert’s Kobe alerts for all time and this last time. Thanks.

  41. Tim says

    Kobe Bryant: oldest player in NBA history to score 60 points in a single game (via @EliasSports)

  44. Mid-Wilshire says

    @ Marlon,

    This from Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports:

    “Bryant became the fifth player in NBA history to score 40 or more after age 37, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone and Dirk Nowitzki, who did it just last month. He is the second player to score 50 or more after age 37, joining MJ. He is the only player to score 60 after age 37. On that score, he stands alone.”

  45. Fern says

    Im just speechless, tonight’s stunning incredible performance for the ages is something that I won’t forget. It made this crpafest of a season worthy. We got vintage Mamba and then some. Is there a better way to close a game and a career? Closer indeed. I was jumping like we were playing for the championship. Unbelievable. MAMBA OUT!!! (drops mic)

  46. Denny says

    In 48 minutes, we saw Kobe’s career in one game. We saw the acrobatic shots, moves and spins as well as the irrationality/insanity in one fell swoop. Yet, when the game needed to be won, there was Kobe who took the over the game, which led to a Hollywoodesque ending.

    Having said all that, I’ll never forget about Kobe and all the emotions he gave every NBA fan like us for 20 years. Someday in the distant future, when am asked to give a description about Kobe, I would say that he was a rorschach test for NBA fans. Or to put it succinctly, You either loved him or hated him.

  48. Marlon Brando says

    Just incredible. Not just the sheer will to score 60, but to drag this historically bad Laker team to a W. I had my #8 jersey underneath my #24, with the Jerry buss commemorative patch stitched to my Laker hat, and I have to say, I haven’t felt this much joy being a laker fan in years. On top of it all, I live in San Francisco and had to watch the game on a small screen at my local pub (every other TV had the Warriors), but by the end everyone had their eyes glued to the Laker game. That’s Kobe. Love him or hate, but you will NOT ignore him.

  51. R says

    That’s Kobe, indeed. I was in a pub in San Jose, but the loudest shouting occurred as the Lakers / Jazz wound down. By the way, when Kobe was standing at the line, needing two to get to sixty, there was no doubt he’d drain em both.

  53. Marlon Brando says

    @R

    Let’s be honest many of these current warrior fans in the Bay Area were laker fans 5-6 years ago.

  54. Dom says

    Kobe for the win. Great post Robert. A Kobe finish. Volume shooter, yes but he won, yet again. My prayer is the Ingram kid, he has the it. We fellas. This era ended tonight. We will know in a few weeks if we get the top pick and a chance. Thanks for the forum Darius, thanks guys for making a crappy season fun to whine about. Peace Mamba Fan out

  55. KenOak says

    I haven’t been around much this season because of work, family, and life in general. (Plus there just hasn’t been all that much to say…) However, I had to comment on this game. I ask you if there could possibly have been a more perfect way to end an incredible career?

    Thank you Kobe. Halfway through the game, I was saying to my friends that man you look tired and that you should rest. But, you kept playing. This wasn’t even one of those games where you were on fire until you WERE on fire. Then, god-mode kicked in and you carried the team to victory en route to 60 points! Thank you Kobe. Thank you for all the memories. For all the championships. For all the MVP chants that I got to hear. Thanks for leaving it all on the court.

    Everyone always wanted to compare you to Jordan, but that was always wrong. You’re Kobe, and there will never be another one of you. You will be missed.

  56. Hale says

    60?!!! Howling with laughter! That’s the last Kobe game Im ever going to miss. Way to go out, KB.

    KO, I’m looking forward to new hyperbolic pyrotechnics from you next season.

  58. david h says

    So we come home after our walk and as per usual, lakers win. Sadly, not having too many walks after dinner with Kobe h this past season.

    Certainly to everyone’s astoundingly amazement, Father Time took a time out; Mother Nature followed suit. Mouth wide open, jaw hitting the floor, tears obstructing a clear view at what may become a nba basketball record for all time……60 freaking points? let’s just call him the black possum.

    Wow

    Go lakers

  59. sufian says

    best regular season game ever. i was the biggest kobe fan but now, im a forever kobe fan.

  60. Mid-Wilshire says

    In case you missed it, here’s Shaq’s comment (via Rachel Nichols):

    Just spoke to Shaq – he said “I challenged him to get 50 and the mother****er got 60”

  61. T. Rogers says

    Went to the gym last night while the game was on. I wanted to workout while watching the game. By the 4th quarter no one was working out. Everyone was hovering around a TV watching Kobe. When Kobe dropped that 3 pointer in front of Jack late in the quarter the entire gym erupted!

    I’m still wrapping my head around all of this. Maybe I can say more later. Right now I can’t.

  62. dogtown says

    Our team won 17 games.

    Yet here on the Morning After, I honestly feel (kinda) like I did after Game 7 in 2010; a mixture of triumph and nostalgic melancholy…or somethin’.

    Darius: “Kobe really turned what I was thinking would be a sad night into a celebration. I honestly cannot stop smiling. He really did it.”

    Indeed.

  63. desmo says

    My son, 27, we now live in different states, called me before the game, he was so excited. The two of us, as he grew up, were lucky enough to be Laker fans. I can picture certain games and remember his age and where we were at the time. The games vs SAC/Webber he was in Jr High, Fisher’s shot, at a Baja Fresh, driving him back from college watching the playoffs, etc. It really was a bonding thing for the two of us and we will remain close forever. I was in awe last night.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtDhtadoeUk

  65. Todd says

    Robert – wonderful post to start the thread. Rightly so that Kobe would go out with such a performance and a Lakers win.

  66. R says

    Pure poetry in Kobe making two FTs to close out his career, as he did after his Achilles tear.

    Robert, wonderful job with the Kobe alerts. Two in one thread, extra nice.

    As you said – very special night for Lakers fans.

  68. DieTryin' says

    I am only now beginning to ecover from what we all saw last night. Witness that LBJ lol!

    Perfect ending to an amazing career. Shaq summed it up best….don’t ever doubt the Mamba. And big thanks to Robert for a very fitting Kobe update.

  69. Clay Bertrand says

    Can’t believe that wasn’t a dream!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt/feel like we won the Finals. Unreal. I forgot how it feels to feel like this.

    Thanks Kobe.

    Mamba Out!!! Drops the mike……..

    Best ending to anything EVER.

  70. Chearn says

    Robert…you already know! An epic performance by the one and only Kobe Bean Bryant. I can’t even read your Kobe Alert, not at this time. I’ll let it marinate for a dreary news less day this summer.