5. Kobe Bryant vs. the Toronto Raptors
January 22, 2006
Staples Center
Bryant’s Line: 81 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
There was no way that this game was not going to be included in this slideshow.
There are few events when Laker fans take note of where they were or what they were doing at the time. Robert Horry’s three-pointer against the Kings in 2002, the Kobe-Shaq lob against the Trail Blazers in 2000, and Kobe Bryant’s 81-point outburst are among those select moments.
Hoops Habit
I fondly remember being in my dorm room in Tenaya Hall at the University of California, San Diego when I looked at the box score for the Lakers game against the Raptors halfway through. The Lakers were down 14 at halftime despite Bryant scoring 26 points. So I went back to pwning n00bs in Halo with my suitemates and come back a couple of hours later to find what I thought was an egregious error on the Internet.
Kobe Bryant scored 81 points? That was impossible. I was so happy I was wrong.
With the Lakers in their customary trailing position during the 2005-2006 season against Toronto, Bryant went into hero ball mode with no dependable scoring option other than himself. The results were 55 points in the second half and a performance that will never be forgotten.
No disrespect to Wilt Chamberlain and his 100-point game, but Bryant’s 81-point game was more impressive. Wilt needed his team to intentionally foul the opposing team to get him more possessions to get more points. It also helped that Chamberlain had “defenders” who were not able to look him in the eye without craning their necks upward.
The Toronto Raptors on the other hand actually did their best to stop Bryant. Raptor head coach Sam Mitchell threw every defender he could at Bryant, hoping to find someone who could slow him down. The 6’6 Bryant saw every one from Jalen Rose, Joey Graham, and even 6’10 Matt “the Red Rocket” Bonner himself try to stop him. Bryant was hitting jump shots against defenders who were of comparable size while Chamberlain had the benefit of being able to toss around a much smaller New York Knicks team around the rim.
Bryant, in the natural flow of the game, was able to achieve a true shooting percentage of 73.9 percent and established himself as the best player in the league.
Never has there been another regular season performance that is as hypnotizing, joyful, or stupefying as Bryant’s all out assault against the Raptors that year. With Bryant’s career winding down, this will be the performance that endures the test of time.