The Black Mamba made his ultimate return tonight against the Washington Wizards, as Kobe Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to an incredible 108-104 victory.
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With his farewell tour underway, Bryant had the best game of his final season by far, finishing with 31 points in his first 30-plus point game since December of last season.
In case you haven’t heard, Kobe Bryant has been excruciatingly bad during his final season.
Gone with the victory is the longest losing streak in North American major sports history at 28. “We want a little bit more”.
“Obviously this is a relief on many levels, but we’re going to get greedy”, 76ers coach Brett Brown said, via USA Today.
After his retirement announcement, the tributes are beginning to roll in for Bryant, and they should be with everything that he has given the game during his long illustrious career. Robert Covington scored 23 points and Jerami Grant and Noel had 14 for the Sixers.
“That got me”, he said.
Bryant, who played in Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, scored 20 points but struggled again from the field making just 7-of-26 field goals.
It was like a light was switched for Philadelphia as it looked like they finally saw the light in the second half, upping their intensity on both ends to mount a furious comeback, and at one point going on a 15-1 run.
The fans got to see Bryant score 20 points in the Lakers’ loss and his introduction in front of his hometown fans was met with a standing ovation.
Bryant added, “I sincerely appreciate the bad as much as I do the good, and hopefully the players coming up now understand that – understand that it’s a journey, it’s a cycle, you can’t take things personal”.
Orlando led by seven after one quarter and built their lead to 54-41 at the half thanks to Nicholson, who scored 12 first-half points off the bench. With 58 seconds left in the fourth quarter, he hit a 3-pointer to put the Lakers up by two.
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Meanwhile, Brown said Okafor will be accompanied by a bodyguard whenever he goes out. Washington returned home after snapping a season-high four-game losing streaky Tuesday by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-85.
