Your Favorite Kobe Memories

[OldasdirtDevil]

The other thread is so sad, I thought maybe we could celebrate Kobe's incredible life and career with some of our favorite memories...and there are a ton of them...more than a few after his NBA career was over.

We miss you Kobe, but we've got a heart full of memories that will never allow us to forget you.

And here is one of my favorite memories. Of course not for the injury (torn achilles), but how he reacted to it by taking care of business. He was as tough as they came.




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[Shatterthesky22]

Man....where to even begin. From his 81 point eruption to him essentially dismantling the Celtics offense in games 6&7 of the 2010 Finals, then after rupturing his Achilles coming back the next season and reinventing himself into a point guard. I know most will probably say LeBron is the best of the 2000’s but nah, Kobe just had that extra gear that pushed him above and beyond anyone else.

Lots of people talk about how “clutch” Kobe was on offense but, his defense in late game situations was astonishing. Seriously, anytime the Lakers just had to have a late stop, Kobe always seemed to be there to get it. Can’t say the same most of today’s top guards, Harden, Curry, Trae Young, they all only play one side of the ball. Kobe dominated on both ends.

Anywho, I’m gonna quit now because I could go on forever about him but, flat-out I’ve never seen anyone like Mr. Bean Bryant.

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

I haven’t really watched much basketball outside of the All Star game since the late 90’a after after MJ retired and the Bulls were pretty much dismantled from what they’d been throughout the 90’s as far as the players that were on the team but my favorite Kobe moment was his last game. At the time I hadn’t really watched much NBA in several years but I wanted to watch that game because I knew it was going to be his last game and he ended up scoring 60 points. An off the court favorite memory would be a video that I watched earlier today from when he was on a late night talk show and he was talking about his daughter playing basketball.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I haven’t really watched much basketball outside of the All Star game since the late 90’a after after MJ retired and the Bulls were pretty much dismantled from what they’d been throughout the 90’s as far as the players that were on the team but my favorite Kobe moment was his last game. At the time I hadn’t really watched much NBA in several years but I wanted to watch that game because I knew it was going to be his last game and he ended up scoring 60 points. An off the court favorite memory would be a video that I watched earlier today from when he was on a late night talk show and he was talking about his daughter playing basketball.

I saw Kobe's last game also. His last season he was just a shell of his old self, but in that last game (after starting out cold) he reached back to give us all a taste of his greatness one more time. I remember soaking it all up and knowing I was watching something special. 60 points. 37 years old. A body racked by injuries and all the hard miles he had put it through during hundreds and hundreds of games. I was thinking of Toby Keith's song lyrics, "I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I ever was'. Yeah, that was Kobe.

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[pisgah101]

Nobody will ever convince me he wasn’t the best player of his time. Sorry lebron

 

[DukeRulesBasketball]

Gotta be the 81 point game for me. I’ll never forget that. I remember being a senior in high school and the next morning in class, I was asking all of my friends if they had seen it, and what they thought about it.

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

Asked where he was going to college if he had to go and he answered Duke

 

[CRAZIE4LIFE]

Nobody will ever convince me he wasn’t the best player of his time. Sorry lebron

And yes I argue with people that I'm tired of hearing Lebron or Jordan, ...its Kobe

 

[jwill133]

The 81 point game is amazing.
IMO the most impressive thing he ever did was average 35.1 ppg in 2005-2006. This was an era when the pace was extremely slow and scores of games were commonly in the 70's.

 

[Mac9192]

I’ve only seen 3 others that had a similar attitude to him, and it’s Jordan, Bird, and Laettner.
Kobe is the last player I’ve watched to have that unique drive, that quite often alienated his teammates.
He bridged the 2 eras together.

 

[skysdad]

I’ve only seen 3 others that had a similar attitude to him, and it’s Jordan, Bird, and Laettner.
Kobe is the last player I’ve watched to have that unique drive, that quite often alienated his teammates.
He bridged the 2 eras together.

I don't really think I have one special moment so I have to agree Mac here on this one in the fact of his will to win and if his team mates had got it they would have been better plsyers. OFC

 

[dukiejay]

All of them?

I don't think I can pick one.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I didn't mean for anyone to limit it to one particular moment, 'cause he had so many incredible moments. More of a reliving the memories, or as Bob Hope would have said, 'thanks for the memories'.

Here's another favorite memory of mine. I'm a big USA basketball fan. This is our dang sport, and I don't want to lose to any other country . And Kobe wouldn't let us lose in the finals game against Spain in '08 (and that game was there for the taking by Spain 'cept Kobe wasn't having any part of that chit). He wasn't just the straw that stirred the drink, he poured the drink, drank the damn thing, and gave the ice to the Spaniards for their headaches. This vid still pumps me up. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Kobe.



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[timo0402]

I tore my Achilles playing hoops last November. How Kobe was able to walk back into the game, let alone walk period, after that and knock down two FTs is beyond me.

 

[MyDudeG]

“That’s one more than Shaq” when he was asked what his 5th ring meant to him in the postgame press conference. Kind of random but I just feel like it was the perfect example of the ultimate level of competitiveness that drove Kobe. His legendary practice habits and will to win were the result of this competitiveness. Nobody was going to outwork him. He brought that same mindset to his career after basketball. That’s a big reason on why he was having so much success in his second career as well. We were going to be seeing great things out of him in the years to come which is part of the reason his untimely passing is such a tough pill to swallow.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I tore my Achilles playing hoops last November. How Kobe was able to walk back into the game, let alone walk period, after that and knock down two FTs is beyond me.

He just had an astonishing will to win, Timo, and was willing to subject his body to almost anything in order to reach his objective.

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[OldasdirtDevil]

You want to talk about dedication? Check out this link.

HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION! UN-FREAKIN' REAL!!!

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/kobe...t-summer-he-decided-to-make-100000-shots.html

There is also a link inside that article about that summer.

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[lyonhawk]

I watched a lot of the coverage yesterday, and anyone who didn't see Jay Williams segment should. It's sad, but great.

 

[Quavarius]

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

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That’s an awesome video

 

[Quavarius]

The other thread is so sad, I thought maybe we could celebrate Kobe's incredible life and career with some of our favorite memories...and there are a ton of them...more than a few after his NBA career was over.

We miss you Kobe, but we've got a heart full of memories that will never allow us to forget you.

And here is one of my favorite memories. Of course not for the injury (torn achilles), but how he reacted to it by taking care of business. He was as tough as they came.

View embedded media

OFC

Thanks OP

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

I just saw this article posted on Facebook. ESPN will be moving the 9pm Kansas/OSU game to ESPN2 and they will be showing Kobe’s final game on ESPN at 9pm.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog...t-up-60-points-vs-the-jazz-tonight-at-9-pm-et

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

Another article I just saw posted on Facebook. Kobe will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year. They’re bypassing the normal requirements due to his tragic death.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...inducted-Basketball-Hall-Fame-Class-2020.html

 

[Quavarius]

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Thanks OP

You're welcome, Q. A thread to appreciate the excellence of Kobe Bryant.

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[OldasdirtDevil]

View embedded media

This is so funny, and so Kobe! I love these type of glimpses at the unbridled joy he had for the game and his own abilities.

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[OldasdirtDevil]

I just saw this article posted on Facebook. ESPN will be moving the 9pm Kansas/OSU game to ESPN2 and they will be showing Kobe’s final game on ESPN at 9pm.

https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog...t-up-60-points-vs-the-jazz-tonight-at-9-pm-et

Thanks for posting this, Diehard, I just finished watching his final Laker game on ESPN. Goosebumps. He had only been playing 20+ minutes a game at this point, but he played 42 minutes...including the entire second half. The man was exhausted (especially the last 5 minutes or so), and I didn't see how he could continue on, but he not only did he excelled. Sure, he took 50 shots, but if you watch this you'll see just how incredible this performance was considering all things. There was, and is, no one quite like him. Mamba out.

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[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

Thanks for posting this, Diehard, I just finished watching his final Laker game on ESPN. Goosebumps. He had only been playing 20+ minutes a game at this point, but he played 42 minutes...including the entire second half. The man was exhausted (especially the last 5 minutes or so), and I didn't see how he could continue on, but he not only did he excelled. Sure, he took 50 shots, but if you watch this you'll see just how incredible this performance was considering all things. There was, and is, no one quite like him. Mamba out.

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I agree he had an unbelievable game no matter the number of shots he took. He scored the Lakers final 17 points over the final 2 1/2-3 minutes of the game. He was determined that he was going out a winner in his final game and he made it happen. He left everything he had on the court in that game.

 

[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

Another memory that is actually one that I just heard about while watching the replay of his final game and they told a story about him being at a game about a month ago and as Luka Doncic was standing on the sideline getting ready to inbound the ball he heard someone behind him say something to him in his Slovenian and when he turned around and saw that it was Kobe he was surprised and they shook hands. They talked again after the game and Kobe introduced Luka Doncic to his daughter then took a picture of his daughter and Luka Doncic.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Another memory that is actually one that I just heard about while watching the replay of his final game and they told a story about him being at a game about a month ago and as Luka Doncic was standing on the sideline getting ready to inbound the ball he heard someone behind him say something to him in his Slovenian and when he turned around and saw that it was Kobe he was surprised and they shook hands. They talked again after the game and Kobe introduced Luka Doncic to his daughter then took a picture of his daughter and Luka Doncic.

Yeah, that's another cool story. I think he said he couldn't repeat part of that conversation!

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[DiehardDukeFan4Life]

Yeah, that's another cool story. I think he said he couldn't repeat part of that conversation!

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Yeah they asked him what Kobe said and he said that he couldn’t repeat it. lol

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Mamba will always be in the house that Kobe built.

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