24. 81 > 69
We’ll start very simply with Bryant’s greatest performance in his career. Only one player in NBA history has scored more points in a single game than Bryant did on that magical night in January of 2006. While Jordan’s performance was nice and all, Bryant surpassed Jordan’s 69-point mark with five minutes to go in the game. Did I mention Jordan needed overtime to get his 69 points?
On the night, it was Bryant at his absolute finest. From a purely scoring perspective, Bryant is better than Jordan and this night proved why. He hit three pointers, he hit pull-up jumpers, he got to the rim, he got to the free-throw line. He showed he could score from anywhere and he did it consistently all night long.
Bryant put in 81 points in 42 minutes while Jordan needed 50 minutes to put in 69 points. Most importantly, Bryant’s effort came in a game that the Lakers were trailing in the second half and needed every bit of Bryant’s huge second half to win the contest. Bryant was the only offensive player worth anything for the Lakers on that team and was the sole focus of the defense, making his performance all the more impressive.
There’s simply no argument to be made that puts Bryant’s 81-point game below Jordan’s 69-point game.
Next: Kobe has more buzzer-beaters/game-winners than MJ