Kobe Bryant blew the roof off Staples Center Thursday night after his first dunk of the season, bringing back memories of his golden days.
With the five-time champion playing well recently, Bryant turned back the clock with a poster on Rockets center, Clint Capela.
The crowed erupted with “MVP” chants following the throwdown and the bench was memorized with Bryant’s move. After the game, rookie D’Angelo Russell talked about the dunk and he sees more life in Kobe beyond this final season, via Ryan Ward of Examiner:
D'Angelo on Kobe's dunk: "You've got two years left in you if you do something like that."
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) December 18, 2015
The Lakers did end up losing the game by 20, 107-87, thanks to a dismal fourth quarter where they were outscored by ten. Bryant finished the night with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists.
However, the biggest storyline remains the minutes allocations for D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. Despite their solid play while on the court, head coach Byron Scott is not giving them the playing time they deserve. Russell tallied seven assists on the night, while Randle notched in a double-double, but neither one of the young players were allowed to play more than 30 minutes.