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Favorite Kobe Basketball Memories

Firemans4Horn

By Firemans4Horn
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Firemans4Horn

Firemans4Horn 18,034

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The Mavs were awesome in 05-06 and without Wade shooting 250 free throws in the finals should have won the title. 
 

That being said they got absolutely torched by Kobe earlier in the season. He outscored the Mavs 62-61 by himself after 3 quarters. I always wish that he could have played in the 4th quarter to see how many he could have scored. Re-watching the video tonight and everything was on display: tenacity, grace, athleticism, desire. As someone that was hardwired to dislike him that game won me over.  I’m going to throw something towards the trash can and shout KOBE in your honor. 
 

 

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TexasMan

TexasMan 10,891

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Honestly, I didn't have any good memories of him as a player. I can appreciate how good he was as a scorer and competitor, but I feel the association/Stern gave he and the Lakers all the breaks, because it was in the best interest of the NBA for the Lakers to always win. Stuff like Mike Bibby's nose or Ron Artest's throat getting in the way of Kobe's elbows, and both of those were called fouls on those players in the playoffs. It was maddening and I always rooted for them to lose.

Edited by TexasMan
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4,275

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Man, too many to name. All Star Weekend has been a huge event for me my entire life, and his performance in the dunk contest had me

over the moon. I had all kinds of Kobe stuff on my walls, and as a kid my favorite pair of shoes that I ever had were some Kobe's. 

 

I could probably name a dozen more things that stand out to me, but my lasting memory will be of watching his final game, when he started so unbelievably poorly, and LA was getting blown out. Then his teammates just kept giving him the ball every single play without exception, and he caught fire in that second half in a way that reminded me of Larry Bird dropping 60 on Atlanta; everything he threw up was going in. And i felt like that kid again, just jumping up and down in the living room, giddy at the performance. 

 

I don't even know how to end this post. I still haven't wrapped my head around this, and won't for a long time i suspect. i've just been set in front of the TV all day long watching everything, scrolling IG and liking the hundreds of Kobe posts which almost exclusively make up my feed. And I guess that's as good a segue as any to what my real lasting memories of him will be- on my IG story i posted video of him playing soccer with Neymar and Mbappe at PSG, speaking fluent Italian and Spanish, and getting Luka's attention by speaking Slovenian. He was this once-in-a-lifetime human who was somehow both a one in ten million athlete with a one in ten million hunger for life. He had so much more in front of him. This is so fucked up. RIP Kobe and GiGi. 

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21,826

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So many.  But I think the first championship in 2000.  You knew then that this was going to be an all-time great.  Yeah, it was Shaw’s team, and rightfully so, but Kobe’s talent was on full display.  
 

his 61 point final game was pretty magical.

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NowThis

NowThis 931

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thread won't go so well on a site full of Spurs, Mavs and Rocket fans.

The lob pass to Shaq to beat Portland was IMO his most important play as it basically won them a title.

His 60 point last game was just nuts, for a guy his age.

I also enjoyed his battle with Jeremy Lin in the NYK Garden, matching each other shot for shot.  Linsanity, he can say he was Kobe's equal for a brief moment in time.

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d2o

d2o 1,602

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9 hours ago, Kermit said:

Technically not a basketball memory, but it still kills me.

 

Yep, I was just telling my friends last week how that still cracks me up every time I see it.     The pause and stare after he says 81 gets me every time.

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C-Man

C-Man 27,183

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Respected Kobe's game but couldn't stand him personally. Blind hatred for his organization, the way he forced his way there, the way he possibly got Shaq moved out, insisting on max-out deals to the detriment of his final Lakers teams (after seeing guys like Dirk and Duncan and others take less to allow their franchises to build teams around them) -- and then there's the whole Colorado "thing."

I will say that MF'er could fucking play ball though. And I'll always respect him for the way he handled his wars with Bruce Bowen. He didn't bitch and moan and cry like others (I'm looking at you Ray Allen) -- he just played ball. Sorry to see his life cut short, sorry that his family -- particularly his daughters -- must live through this and sorry his 13-year-old was killed as well.

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Sbbruin

Sbbruin 21,826

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I remember when we traded Vlade for him.  I was very skeptical.  Divac was a solid C, and they were hard to come by.  But at that point we all blindly trusted Jerry West, so if he thought it was the right move, I was on board.  But he only started like 7 games over his first couple seasons.  Del Harris eased him into it, and he hated it.  But it probably kept him from being too much of a hot dog early on.

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aggie08

aggie08 21,481

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15 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I always loved that.  Barnes was a tough player who got the most out of his limited ability.  But it was a bitch move and Kobe pwned him.

Then don't watch the overhead video of it. The ball was nowhere near Kobe's face. I wish I could unsee that video.

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Rockethorn1978

Rockethorn1978 6,072

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Yea I wouldn't call my basketball memories of Kobe being "my favorite" other than saying "That MOTHERFUCKER" a lot when he beat the Rockets. Fucking sucks. To think of being able to watch his daughter be a basketball stud and him being on the sideline and probably even owning a wnba team or coaching one was cool. 

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pacman

pacman 7,354

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Not a Lakers fan but enjoyed his game, nonetheless.

Anything that showed his dedication to the craft of basketball. The game would be so much better, if all those blessed with height and athleticism took the game as serious as Kobe.

 

Edited by pacman
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Mitch Cumsteen

Mitch Cumsteen 18,547

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Kobe Bryant was one of the most frustrating players for me ever to follow. He was a ballhog and a shitty teammate. His determination, work ethic, competitiveness and talent were unsurpassed. He gave everything he had to the game except he never got it through his thick head that the sport is at its best when the total is greater than the sum of its parts. He was so incredible and so self-confident, and so much better than anybody else, that he put himself above the team.

And the worst part about all of it is that he fucking knew better. He knew the right play to make, he knew how to make his teammates better, but he just refused to do it. He was so fucking stubborn and the Laker fans worshipped him, no matter what he did on or off the court. He won 5 rings but he should have had probably 3 more. His final game was really the perfect microcosm of his career. Go for 60. Take 50 shots to get there and cover up all of the stink with the unyielding adulation of his fans.

He was at once the most exhilarating and exasperating player on earth. He famously quit on his team in Game 7 in the playoffs against Phoenix by refusing to shoot, just to prove a point. Phil Jackson called him uncoachable. He ran Shaq out of town. He forced the Lakers to mortgage their future on fading stars. He never took less salary to make the team more competitive in his later years after his skills had waned. He was so widely popular with the Laker fans, that at the end of his career he essentially forced the franchise to choose him over the good of the franchise and building their young core. He was incomparably self-centered and stubborn.

But say what you will, he did it his own damn way -- uncompromising and unapologetically -- zero fucks given. Got to respect the man for that.

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