On January 22, 2006 the Toronto Raptors came to Los Angeles to take on the Lakers in what most figured would be just another regular season contest. The Raptors were not a playoff contender, ultimately finishing the season 27-55, and the Lakers were now two years removed from their “dynasty” years and were scrapping for a mid-seed in the Western Conference.
As we all know now, the game ended up being far from ordinary, as Kobe Bryant went off for one of the all-time great scoring performances in NBA history, lighting up the Raptors to the tune of 81 points. As we reach the 12th anniversary of that game, Kobe’s 81-point performance is still the benchmark for the modern NBA when it comes to single-game scoring. Anytime a player is in the middle of an apparent great scoring night, the first thought is “can they reach 81.”
To this point, no one has sniffed Kobe’s 81 points in the 12 years since he went off on the Raptors — Devin Booker’s 70-point outing last season was the closest anyone has come. Jalen Rose, the primary defender on Bryant in the second half of the game, still gets reminded about Kobe’s feat pretty regularly on national television and just about every time he posts to social media. The number is etched in the NBA fan’s memory, but if you haven’t gone back and watched the game recently (or at the least the full highlights of Kobe’s buckets) you may have forgotten exactly what his outing looked like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t45OXWk1m2M
The SportsCenter highlight from that night was a full two minutes long and featured some vintage Stuart Scott-isms.
12 years ago today, @kobebryant dropped 81.
Here's what the SC highlight with Stuart Scott and @espnSteveLevy looked like. pic.twitter.com/NGoasdT4P8
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 22, 2018
Bryant was hitting contested jumpers from the start, with his second bucket being a turnaround long two that rattled home and probably should’ve signaled to us all that he was feeling it that night. It was as efficient a Kobe performance as you’ll see, as he went 28-of-46 (60.9 percent) from the field, 7-of-13 from three and 18-of-20 from the free throw line. After the game, Bryant was taken aback by the performance, noting he never thought in his wildest dreams he’d accomplish something like scoring 81.
The game came to be a defining moment not just for Kobe, but also for Rose and even the Raptors franchise to an extent. Bryant has enjoyed his association with 81, even going so far as to follow exactly 81 people on Instagram (until recently, when it went up to 82). Rose, unfortunately, has not had as enjoyable an experience in reliving that moment, but seems to have grown accustomed to the jabs and references to the 81 points, as evidenced by him letting Paul Pierce’s attempt at an 81 joke slide by on a recent NBA Countdown.
