In what was one of the most decorated playing careers of all-time, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant ended his two-decade tenure with an exclamation mark last year, putting up 60 points in a victory against the Utah Jazz in his final NBA game. The last game of the season always has various implications for each team in the league depending largely on playoff seeding. For some, it could be the difference in making or missing the postseason but for the eliminated teams, the game has no meaning and possesses an exhibition type feel to it as they look forward to the summer.
That was the exact case for the Los Angeles Lakers last year and with Kobe being one of the biggest icons the basketball world has ever seen, there was no doubt the mamba was going out with a bang. His heroic 60 point performance on 50 shot attempts was one of the most memorable performances from last season.
Now almost a year later, Bryant looks back at his last game and says he knew he would either have an extraordinary night like he ended up having, or fall flat. This is what Kobe had to say regarding his unforgettable finale, via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes:
“I wasn’t thinking, ‘I’m going to rest up and come out here and have this monster game…'”
“Give them a couple plays, take them down memory lane a little bit,” Bryant tells ESPN. And that would be that…
“After the first couple minutes, I was like, ‘Oh, s—,'” Bryant says. “It became apparent really, really quickly that this night was not going to go down with me just playing OK. It was either going to have to be an epic one or the worst one ever, because they were just going to keep throwing me the damn ball and the crowd wanted me to shoot every time — almost to the point where I felt bad for my teammates, because if they took a shot, the crowd was ready to boo. So it was like, ‘Oh, s—. I gotta go.'”
Kobe Bryant put forth the perfect end to his illustrious career that day. His final performance was truly one for the ages and will be remembered for years to come. It’s not typical for a player pushing the age of 40 years old to put on a show like he was able to do, despite his inefficiency and the irrelevance of the matchup. But then again, Kobe Bryant wasn’t just a typical basketball player either and he unsurprisingly was able to leave NBA fans in awe one last time.
