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Lakers: 20 Greatest Individual Performances in Franchise History

By Eric Yee

Shaquille O'Neal (L) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers talk during the 1st quarter of game two of the NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets 07 June 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. AFP PHOTO/Lucy NICHOLSON (Photo by LUCY NICHOLSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Shaquille O'Neal (L) and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers talk during the 1st quarter of game two of the NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets 07 June 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. The Lakers have a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. AFP PHOTO/Lucy NICHOLSON (Photo by LUCY NICHOLSON / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUCY NICHOLSON/AFP via Getty Images) /
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20. Kobe Bryant Scores 21 in the 4th, Leading Largest Come Back in Lakers’ History

This was impressive team win for the Los Angeles Lakers, but they would never have pulled off the victory without the incredible performance by Kobe Bryant.

Entering the fourth quarter trailing by a staggering margin of 27 points, 88-61, to the Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas Mavericks in 2002, there was no way the Lakers were supposed to win this game. That night, Nash was giving the Lakers headaches, scoring at will, but in classic Kobe fashion, he buckled down in the fourth quarter, slowly but surely taking over the game.

Inexplicably cutting the lead to 15 points with about seven and a half minutes to go in the contest, it was all downhill for the Mavericks after that point on. Kobe Bryant ended up finishing with 21 fourth quarter points, hitting the game winning bucket with eight seconds left.

To put this in perspective, currently, less than 20 players in the NBA are averaging 20 points per game or more.

It was not even the amount of points that Kobe scored that made this one of the most impressive performances in franchise history, but the ease with which he scored them.

Equally impressive was the fact that Kobe struggled the entire game, scoring only 6 points through three quarters, only to waltz his way to 21 points in the final 12 minutes of the contest.

Next: Jerry West Drops 63 in '62

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