Flashback Friday: Kobe Bryant’s last playoff game (w/video)

It seems like a decade ago when the Lakers were last competitive in the playoffs. But it was just over two years ago that the Lakers battled the Thunder in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. And while the Lakers ran into a buzzsaw, we saw a couple vintage Kobe Bryant performances.

Specifically, in the final game of the series, Game 5, Bryant poured in 42 points on 54% shooting and nearly kept the Lakers alive himself.

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Unfortunately, we know it was all for naught as the Lakers bowed out. It was the last time the Lakers appeared at the level of competition. The following summer, they dealt Andrew Bynum and a host of draft picks for Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, and we don’t need to revisit that season.

Also on the disappointing and depressing side, this is looking more and more like Bryant’s final playoff game. With two years remaining on his contract and his persistence that he is finished after next season, we may have already witnessed Bryant’s final post-season performance.

If that is the case, he went out like you’d expect the Black Mamba to: with a fight. We don’t know what this year or even next season will bring, but there may not be a more suiting personal performance than Bryant defiantly scoring 42 points against the younger, more athletic competition.

Do you think that was Bryant’s final playoff game? Let us know down below!