Kobe Bean Bryant, a man who strived for greatness throughout his entire career in the NBA, laced up his shoes at Staples Center Arena for the final time on April 13th.
Kobe gave the fans, and haters, something to remember in his final debut with 60 points off of a whopping 50 shot attempts, four rebounds, four assists, and six three-pointers made.
After going a cold 0-5 shooting in the first quarter, Kobe torched the Utah Jazz defense for 12 straight points. The first basket was something familiar to the fans as he pulled up for a fade away basket over two Jazz defenders.
Bryant found himself resting in the beginning of the second quarter as the wear and tear of all the years of experience seemed to have caught up to him.
As the game went into halftime, Kobe found himself with 22 points through an inspiring 20 shots attempted. With this being his final game, not even the fans wanted him passing the ball to anyone else.
This went all the way into the fourth quarter as Kobe found himself with 37 points. And as the final quarter passed, Kobe set fire to Staples Center as he scored 23 points to put his team over the Jazz and giving all the fans throughout his 20 year career another memorable night.
Kobe was greeted by all of his old teammates, longtime friends, and many others. Though the future of the Lakers’ organization seems as unclear as ever, it was nice to see the end of this chapter in Kobe Bryant’s life.
During his final post game speech, Bryant thanked everyone throughout his journey in the NBA.
“The thing that had me cracking up all night long, through the 20 years of everyone screaming to pass the ball, then on the last night they like, “Don’t pass it!” Kobe said jokingly at the end of the game.
After he addressed Los Angeles for the final time, he gave all the people watching a solemn “Mamba Out.”