Lakers: Mamba Day Live Outside STAPLES Center with Kobe Bryant Fans
Mamba Day was a joyous way for Lakers fans to spend one last night in the aura of Kobe Bryant
Mamba Day; the last night the legend named Kobe Bryant will ever grace and NBA court as an active player.
Next: Get The Kobe Farewell Tour Shirt While Supplies Last!
The plan was to meet two producers and “In The Front Row” co-host McCall Hall to interview Kobe fans to get their thoughts on his last game, what Kobe meant to them, and get a message prepared for Kobe. We all thought it was going to be fun and exciting, but never realized just how emotional things were going to become and how the emotions would change from happiness to sheer joy—the joy just to be a part of this special day.
You have never seen so many people in one place all wearing the same No. 24 Lakers jersey and some were even wearing a No. 8 under their No. 24 jersey (they showed us). Fans willing to talk about their idol were not hard to find—to the point that there was no way to interview them all. The electricity in the air was more than I have ever experienced in four decades of being a Lakers fan.
With reservations at Rock’n Fish inside LA Live, the amount of fans inside the restaurant weren’t shocking, but the masses of fans watching the patio TVs and standing outside of the restaurant certainly were.
Kobe started out cold, missing his first five shots. He ended up shooting 50 times during the game. Fortunately for fans and for Kobe, he was about to shoot the lights out. He finished with 60 points, the first time he scored 50-points or more in a game since Feb. 2009. The 26th time he’d scored 50 or more in a game also made Bryant the first to do so in his final NBA game.
Throughout the game, the restaurant guests chanted, ‘MVP’, and ‘Kobe’ each time he scored. No one thought he would score quite as much as he did, but were delighted when it happened. The patrons around us cheered louder and louder, people just couldn’t sit down in their chairs. Outside on the patio and outside the restaurant looking in, there were more fans than on the inside looking out.
You would think things would have calmed down after the game was over, but no, things got shady. Firecrackers sounded like gun shots, fans were mobbing up into groups and chanting ‘Kobe.’ The LAPD was out in force, but pretty much everything seemed to be in control.
Fans exited staples and headed straight to their car with their shiny-covered commemorative program full of Kobe memories, a Black Mamba t-shirt, and puffy eyes. It was visible how emotionally spent they all were. We were fortunate to get some post game thoughts, still.
This was our experience at Mamba Day around Kobe Bryant’s last game. Above all else when it comes to Lakers fans, Kobe is loved:
On the way home, I caught Kobe’s post-game goodbye thank you speech. It was then, transitioning from the 110 to the 105 freeways, I shed my first tear. I had held it together all night, asking fans if they were going to cry, and I thought I had made it through the night without a tear.
It was when Kobe said, almost breaking down himself, “God, I love you guys—I love you guys,” that got me. And re-listening to it, tear number two just welled up in my right eye.
More lakers: Lakers: Interesting Stats You Might Have Missed From Kobe Bryant’s Last Game
Thank you, Kobe, for all the memories. We hope we did your legacy justice in this fan celebration video. Mamba out!
Special thanks to McCall Hall, Garret, Guillermo, and Ryan (producers), and In The Front Row for their assistance in filming, editing, and making this fan experience happen!