Kobe Bryant is a basketball legend whose legacy will live on for decades after his tragic death in January 2020. Bryant exemplified what it means to make the most of one’s talent, working harder than anyone else to become one of the best basketball players of all time, winning five championships with the Los Angeles Lakers along the way.
Unfortunately, Bryant’s playing career did not finish as cleanly as he would have liked. He tore his Achilles tendon in 2013 in an ill-fated attempt to will the Lakers into the playoffs, and he was never the same player again. But on the fatal night of April 13, 2016, Bryant channeled his younger self, finishing his Hall of Fame career on a high note by dumping 60 points, 23 of which came in a fourth-quarter avalanche of heroics that we’ve come to expect from the Black Mamba.
D’Angelo Russell, who witnessed Kobe Bryant’s final barrage, had to do nothing more than pass the ball to him and move on.
“When you get the ball and they boo you, you know what that means.” Get the ball to that man. He was only looking to score. He was hitting difficult twos, like one-footed side of the three-point line twos. Pull-ups. Just look at his face, bro. He looked young. Russell mentioned this during an appearance on Tidal League’s Run Your Race podcast.
D’Angelo Russell reflects on Kobe Bryant’s final season, particularly his 60-point performance in his last NBA game:
“It was incredible how his year developed into a farewell tour out of nowhere… We (the Lakers) were garbage… When you get the ball and the crowd boos you, you know what?
The Lakers did not enjoy the most successful 2010s. After winning the championship in 2010 by avenging their previous NBA Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, the Lakers experienced a sharp decline. They reached their lowest point during the 2015-16 season, when they won only 17 of their 82 regular-season games, their lowest win-loss total in team history.
Kobe Bryant, on the other hand, managed to make everyone forget about the Lakers’ poor performance, if only for one night. He realized his career was coming to an end, so he wanted to offer them one final gift before calling it quits for good.
“You can see it mentally; he was ready. Russell continued, “Everybody in the world was at the game.”
More over eight years have passed since Kobe Bryant’s farewell game, but many people, including D’Angelo Russell, still remember it vividly. And why not? Scoring 60 points in your final game after laboring for the last three seasons is something only legends can do.
