After losing to the Lakers and Bryant’s 60-point-on-50-shot effort, the Jazz left the floor knowing they had a playoff spot in their grasp before losing four of the final five games of the regular season.
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Los Angeles Lakers Shaquille O’Neal, right, flexes his arm as he polishes off his superman tattoo seated next to teammate Kobe Bryant during the fourth quarter of their blowout game against the Chicago Bulls, Feb. 1, 1998, in Inglewood, California.
Bryant and his wife, Vanessa received championship-like rings with five large diamonds on them (one for each title he won) and 20 smaller diamonds (one for each of his playing years) from the Lakers.
And the reactions? There were plenty. He called out Bryant for running Shaq out of Los Angeles, rather than learning to work with him. He said, “I can’t believe how fast 20 years went by, man, this is insane”.
But the night began with that other Lakers great, Magic Johnson, standing at center court, speaking to the legions of Lakers fans. Kobe is also the third leading scorer in National Basketball Association history, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.
It’s only fitting that in his final game – one in which he missed 28 shots, 15 from 3-point range – Kobe launched at will, but capped off his career with a pass. “Essentially, as long as I’ve watched sports, Kobe’s been there”. Witnessing Bryant’s work ethic and determination up close left an impression on the three-time NBA All-Star. Or would he want to be remembered as the team player that didn’t hog the spotlight for himself in his waning moments?
Nicholson, 78, was among those who appeared on a tribute video which was played to the crowd at the Staples Center.
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“That’s how I see it, and I’m happy for him, because the guy is one of the greatest competitors we’ve ever seen in any sport”. “But tonight was (me) trying to go out, play hard and try to put on a show as much as I possibly could. He could not end without something like that, so I think he threw my shoes in the trash, but yeah, that’s Kobe for you”.
