The King Of New York: Kobe Bryant Scores 61 At MSG

M-V-P! M-V-P! My idol Reggie Miller may have shocked the Garden time after time. Michael Jordan may have droped the double nickel on the Apple. Even Bernard King earned his surname in MSG once upon the time. None of them , however, were ever better than Kobe Bryant was last night.

The Black Mamba struck the snakebit Knicks for a Madison Square Garden record high 6 points Monday night. Christopher Walken, Christoper Schmalken. Kobe Bryant is now the King of New York. LeBron James eat your heart out.

19-31 is saying something, especially when you see how many crazy and contested shots he sank. He also went 20 -20 from the charity stripe. There’s stepping up your game to make up for Andrew Bynum’s absence, and then there’s this. This was like a one-game highlight tape for MVP voters. I mean, even Spike Lee and the Garden crowd gave him a standing ovation. The last two opposing players who I saw get standing Os at MSG? Yep — M.J. and Reggie. And that was when they retired. Re-freakin’-diculous.

Check out every single bucket of No. 24′s scintillating 61 (hat tip: NESW Sports), plus his post-game press conference: