Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
During the regular season, when everyone was trying to learn the offense, Phil and I both knew I was going to have to shoulder the scoring load. Now in the playoffs, everyone has a rhythm for the game and we can start attacking as a union.
Very surprised. Shocked actually. Very, very surprised. I've been hit with a couple of flagrant fouls already this year. I've been hit with a clothesline and no suspensions come of that. And I get two games for this?
Weird things happen in the NBA, and tonight was one of them. We had a chance to win the game and just didn't close it out. They made some big shots down the stretch and came away with the victory. Even though (Odom) made a mistake, as a team, defense down the stretch cost us the ballgame.
We are a young team and we played extremely well tonight. We just take it game by game and we are starting to see more success.
We played hard tonight. Even the last two games that we lost on the road, we played hard. We just did not come through down the stretch of the game. Tonight was no different. We are a physical team and we got after them a little bit. All around, it was a good victory.
I think this was our best game this season. We played very well at both ends of the court consistently. We did a great job containing our energy and when we went to our bench they came in and maintained our energy. We had guys step up consistently and make big plays. That is what we have to do. If we can keep this rolling, we will make a lot of noise.
If we're in a situation where I need to put points on the board, then I'll do it. I really do it on a needed basis. I don't do it just to do it. I don't try to go into a game saying, 'this is what I'm going to do.' We've had a couple games where my teammates were struggling shooting the ball. Then I take it over.
When the game is on the line, they put the ball in my hands. I've gotta do what I've gotta do, I don't care if it's 50 shots, 60 shots, five shots.
This weekend is smooth for me. I'm looking forward to competing with these guys, getting out there on the floor and competing and trying to raise the game for all of us.
For him to just call me and tell me what a great game it was and how proud of me he is meant more to me than the 81 points. That means more to me than even the game itself, because I idolized him as a kid.
That's not what we play for. That's not what it's about. It's not to score 70 points. We wanted to win the game, and the game was in the bag. It was in the refrigerator.
It's definitely the best scoring game I've ever had.
It was a big game for us, ... We are a young team and we had to battle back to get the win.
It's an encouraging game, ... The fact that I can shoot the ball horrendously and we can still have an opportunity to win the game is encouraging.