On the Court With... Kobe Bryant by Matt Christopher
Authors: Matt Christopher
Tags: Biography
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added four more. The Lakers
responded with five of their own, but the Spurs matched them point for point, until the score was tied at 80 apiece.
Then, with 2.7 seconds left on the clock, Bryant got his hands on the ball 20 feet from the hoop. He drew up and jumped for
the game-winning shot.
Manu Ginobili jumped too. As Kobe released the ball, Manu blocked the shot. At the same moment, Kobe’s arm slashed in an odd
motion. His elbow caught Manu right in the face!
When Kobe’s shot missed, the game went into overtime. The Spurs eventually won, 96 – 94. Kobe was disappointed at the outcome.
But that disappointment was nothing compared to what he felt two days later. That’s when league officials ruled that that
Kobe’s elbow motion was “unnatural;” in their view, he had hit Ginobili on purpose.
Bryant vehemently denied that he had meant to hurt his opponent. But it didn’t make a difference. He was suspended for one
game.
“I’m surprised. Shocked, by it, actually,” Bryant said. “You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while.”
Interestingly, Kobe connected with two. other players with similar arm motions later in the season. The first also resulted
in another single game suspension. The second was ruled a flagrant foul. Whether Bryant had meant any or all of the blows
remains unclear, but regrettably, those incidents made some people consider him a dirty player.
If Bryant was having his share of problems, so too were the Lakers. After a promising start to the season, they suddenly went
into a tailspin. February saw them losing six games in a row. In March, they were defeated seven consecutive times, including
one game that found them losing by 36 points! By the end of that month, their record stood at 38-34.
Kobe was doing everything he could to get his team back on top. In one stretch at the end of March, he became the second player
in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain to post point totals of 50 or more in four consecutive games, with 65, 50, 60, and 50.
All those games resulted in wins.
Other times, such as the match on April 2, he backed off from the basket and worked on helping his teammates rack up the points
instead.
“I like seeing my teammates being in a rhythm. I like seeing their confidence. I like seeing them smile,” Bryantsaid after that night’s 126-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
The next game, it was Kobe who was smiling. Halfway into the third quarter, he sank a free throw to make his 26th point of
the game. To his surprise, the crowd erupted into cheers.
“I didn’t know what the people were clapping about until I got in the trainer’s room,” he said later. What he didn’t realize
was that that shot brought his career total to 19,000 points, boosting him over Michael Jordan as the youngest player to reach
that mark!
The Lakers finished out their regular season schedule two weeks later. Kobe’s final point average of 31.6 was the highest
in the NBA, the second year in a row he was the league’s top scorer. He was proud of the achievement, as well as the fact
that with ten 50-plus point games he had tied Wilt Chamberlain’s single-season record.
But of course, those records didn’t add up to the ultimate goal: another NBA championship.
With a record of 40 wins and 42 losses, the Lakers just squeaked into the playoffs. Their opponents? The Phoenix Suns.
The Suns had beaten the Lakers ten times in their last twelve regular season meetings. In the previousyear’s postseason, the Lakers had jumped ahead in the first round three games to one, only to be routed by the Suns in the
final three games. This year, Los Angeles hoped the results would be much different.
They weren’t. The Suns took the first game 95-87. They took the second by an even bigger margin, 126-98. The third game—a
45-point, 6-rebound, 6-assist effort by Kobe Bryant—ended in the Lakers’ only victory of the series. Phoenix rode
responded with five of their own, but the Spurs matched them point for point, until the score was tied at 80 apiece.
Then, with 2.7 seconds left on the clock, Bryant got his hands on the ball 20 feet from the hoop. He drew up and jumped for
the game-winning shot.
Manu Ginobili jumped too. As Kobe released the ball, Manu blocked the shot. At the same moment, Kobe’s arm slashed in an odd
motion. His elbow caught Manu right in the face!
When Kobe’s shot missed, the game went into overtime. The Spurs eventually won, 96 – 94. Kobe was disappointed at the outcome.
But that disappointment was nothing compared to what he felt two days later. That’s when league officials ruled that that
Kobe’s elbow motion was “unnatural;” in their view, he had hit Ginobili on purpose.
Bryant vehemently denied that he had meant to hurt his opponent. But it didn’t make a difference. He was suspended for one
game.
“I’m surprised. Shocked, by it, actually,” Bryant said. “You unintentionally catch people with elbows every once in a while.”
Interestingly, Kobe connected with two. other players with similar arm motions later in the season. The first also resulted
in another single game suspension. The second was ruled a flagrant foul. Whether Bryant had meant any or all of the blows
remains unclear, but regrettably, those incidents made some people consider him a dirty player.
If Bryant was having his share of problems, so too were the Lakers. After a promising start to the season, they suddenly went
into a tailspin. February saw them losing six games in a row. In March, they were defeated seven consecutive times, including
one game that found them losing by 36 points! By the end of that month, their record stood at 38-34.
Kobe was doing everything he could to get his team back on top. In one stretch at the end of March, he became the second player
in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain to post point totals of 50 or more in four consecutive games, with 65, 50, 60, and 50.
All those games resulted in wins.
Other times, such as the match on April 2, he backed off from the basket and worked on helping his teammates rack up the points
instead.
“I like seeing my teammates being in a rhythm. I like seeing their confidence. I like seeing them smile,” Bryantsaid after that night’s 126-103 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
The next game, it was Kobe who was smiling. Halfway into the third quarter, he sank a free throw to make his 26th point of
the game. To his surprise, the crowd erupted into cheers.
“I didn’t know what the people were clapping about until I got in the trainer’s room,” he said later. What he didn’t realize
was that that shot brought his career total to 19,000 points, boosting him over Michael Jordan as the youngest player to reach
that mark!
The Lakers finished out their regular season schedule two weeks later. Kobe’s final point average of 31.6 was the highest
in the NBA, the second year in a row he was the league’s top scorer. He was proud of the achievement, as well as the fact
that with ten 50-plus point games he had tied Wilt Chamberlain’s single-season record.
But of course, those records didn’t add up to the ultimate goal: another NBA championship.
With a record of 40 wins and 42 losses, the Lakers just squeaked into the playoffs. Their opponents? The Phoenix Suns.
The Suns had beaten the Lakers ten times in their last twelve regular season meetings. In the previousyear’s postseason, the Lakers had jumped ahead in the first round three games to one, only to be routed by the Suns in the
final three games. This year, Los Angeles hoped the results would be much different.
They weren’t. The Suns took the first game 95-87. They took the second by an even bigger margin, 126-98. The third game—a
45-point, 6-rebound, 6-assist effort by Kobe Bryant—ended in the Lakers’ only victory of the series. Phoenix rode
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