On the anniversary of 81, what is retiring Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s best performance against each NBA team?
Friday night marks the 10-year anniversary of one of the most important moments in NBA history, particularly in the past 20-30 years. That moment, of course, is the night that Los Angeles Lakers guard/forward Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points on the Toronto Raptors in the Air Canada Centre.
While it may not have eclipsed the NBA record of 100 points in a single game, the 81 points that Kobe scored are just incredible in the modern era. No one has even come close to that mark and that’s not a mistake. It’s almost impossible to put up that kind of scoring output in the way the game is played in the current era.
Even more impressive, though, is the fact that the Lakers needed all 81 of Kobe’s points to beat the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006. Coaches and players alike have spoke on the fact that the Lakers wouldn’t have been in that game if Bryant hadn’t been competing and scoring at an unprecedented level on that night. He needed to make history to win and he did just that.
And really, that’s kind of the calling card of Kobe. There aren’t many players in history that have the ability to recognize moments and then capture them the way that Kobe does. It’s a mark of an all-time great and the 81 points was his masterpiece among many classics.
So, in honor of the 81-point game, these are some more of his classics. These are Kobe Bryant’s best single-game performances against each of the 29 other NBA teams.
Next: Vs. Hawks