Last Wednesday night was one of the most historic nights not just in NBA history, but in sports altogether. Kobe Bryant, the NBA’s third highest scorer of all time, dropped 60 points in his final NBA game with the Los Angeles Lakers. That same night, the Golden State Warriors won their 73rd game this season, snapping the 1995-96 Bulls’ long-standing record of 72-10 as the NBA’s most successful regular-season team.
Before the epic night began, a popular question arose: If you had tickets to both games, which would you go to? The answer, at least to me, was (and still is) obvious — Golden State, by a landslide. In reality, though, I feel like I chose the less popular answer.
There was tremendous hype surrounding Kobe’s last game. Between #MambaDay trending on Twitter for hours and Snapchat’s “Mamba Day” Geofilter, everyone was talking about Kobe — not the Warriors’ pursuit of history. And in the hours following the conclusion of both games, there seemed to be a consensus that Kobe’s 60 points outweighed the Warriors’ record, or at least that Staples Center was the place to be, and not Oracle Arena.
So picture yourself with two tickets to two historic games. One gets you into the final Kobe-led comeback of his career for the Lakers’ worst season in franchise history. The other plants you at the culmination of the greatest NBA regular season of all time.
Kobe Bryant is a living legend. He’s scored more points than Michael Jordan and won more NBA Championships than Larry Bird. He’s been an All-Star 18 times and a member of the All-Defensive First Team nine times. He has been an inspiration to players in the league today and will inspire more players for years to come. He is a top-20 player on the NBA’s all-time list, and arguably even top-15.
His performance in his final game was historic, but his 60 points were scored off an outrageous 50 shots. The rest of the Lakers combined for 35 shots.
Many people will say, “Taking 50 shots doesn’t matter — the man scored 60 points at the age of 37.” I’d disagree, considering the last time any player took 50 shots in a single game was in the 1983-84 season.
For the sake of argument, I won’t only criticize the number of shots he took. I’m sure his teammates and coaches encouraged him to shoot so many times too. I will, however, criticize some of the quality of the shots he took. He is not the spry 22 year old he once was, so pulling up for some fiercely contested shots and airmailing others hurt his team.
In Kobe’s defense, he did rattle off 17 points in a row in the fourth quarter, surging his Lakers to one last come-from-behind victory. So regarding that stretch when shots were falling, there should be no criticism. Plus, scoring 60 points is always remarkable, especially at the end of a disappointing season — and at the age of 37.
Honestly, even if Kobe had scored 80 points, I still would have rather gone to see the Warriors make history. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all in their prime, changing the game as we know it and breaking records that were thought to be untouchable.
Curry hit 10 more threes against Memphis last Wednesday, en route to an NBA record 402 three-pointers this season, shattering his own record of 286 set last season. It looks like the reigning MVP will keep his title after an outstanding, record-setting performance this year. In fact, there have even been rumblings linking him to the Most Improved Player award.
This Golden State season, led largely by Curry’s efforts, may go down as the single greatest season ever played by an American professional sports team. Yet in the hours after the game, all anybody talked about was Kobe. A couple days ago — and I wish I were making this up — a bag of air from the Staples Center during Kobe’s last game reached a bid of $15,000 on eBay. So clearly, people are still obsessing over Kobe and not recognizing the greatest regular season of basketball ever played to the extent it deserves.
Thirty years from now, after LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kawhi Leonard and the rest of today’s elite players have retired, I’ll bet the Warriors 73-9 record still stands. (Unless of course, the Warriors land Kevin Durant in free agency. Then, they could break their own record as early as next year.) Curry scored 400 3-pointers in a season before anyone else scored 300. While I’m sure someone will eventually break that record, it won’t be for a long time. Again, if Steph steps up his game even more next year, then he could surely extend that record before his career is over.
Kobe’s record of 60 points in an NBA finale will likely still stand the test of time as well, mostly due to the fact that no one takes 50 shots in a game. To me, the feat of going 73-9 in a season led by a superstar scoring 400 points is in a different realm of importance than scoring 60 points in a game — even if you are retiring from the game forever.
He is a top-20 player on the NBA’s all-time list, and arguably even top-15.
hahahahahaha no wonder no one reads this