It is hard to nail down a favorite moment from Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant’s career as he had plenty during his 20 years with the organization. Fellow Laker icon Magic Johnson was asked about his personal favorite at the Dodgers All-Access event on Thursday and he contemplated a few iconic moments.
In what felt like a storybook moment, Bryant’s farewell game put the cherry on top of an accolade-filled career. While it may not be the flashiest, he put up 60 points and clearly left it all on the floor, giving fans on last show.
Johnson ultimately decided that this game was his favorite Bryant story, although there were plenty of options to choose from.
“Where do we start? Is it the 81 points? I would say my favorite was the last game,” Johnson told the crowd of Dodgers fans. “Hurt, not all the way there, remember the Achilles, and so if you were there or watching it on TV, the second half, the whole crowd did not sit down. Remember? And he kept scoring and scoring. And we kept going crazy and crazier. And it got louder. We said, ‘Man, he got to 50? Kobe scored 50?’ And he kept going! I’ve never seen a guy end his career in the fashion that Kobe ended his career that last game.
“I think I’m going to always remember that one. That is the game that I will always remember. And then the other one was probably Portland. When there was supposed to be the ‘Kobe Stopper.’ Some guy named himself that, Ruben Patterson was his name, or something like that. And Kobe ended the game in regulation with a 3 to tie it. And remember, he ended the overtime with a 3 to win it. When we were down two, he hit the 3. I mean, man, I could go Kobe stories for a lifetime. This man, he was just so sensational. Just had a different mindset. He was always pushing himself and his teammates to be better and better and better. He came to Los Angeles when we needed him to come. We had that transition of about four years we weren’t very good, and then we drafted this 18-year-old guy and put him with Shaq, and the rest was history. I think if they had played together seven, eight more years, they probably would’ve won another five to six championships. They won three in a row. Just amazing.
“I love Kobe, and then I love him as a father and husband too. Always had his daughters with him. Just an amazing individual. Boy, did he love coming here to watch the Dodgers play. He came here a lot to see the team play, so that was great. Sitting next to him, watching the Dodgers play, we laughed the whole game and talked. I remember that night we did that.”
When Jerry West pushed for the Lakers to take the Black Mamba, who was a high school prospect at the time, no one could envision the player he would turn into. He left it all on the floor during his 20 years with the Lakers though and capped it off with one final performance that even left all-time greats like Johnson in awe.
Magic Johnson includes Kobe Bryant & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on all-time Lakers list
When it comes to the Lakers franchise as a whole, trying to decipher an all-time greats list is hard due to how many legends donned the purple and gold. But Magic Johnson solidified his own ranking with Kobe Bryant and former teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at the top and Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West rounding out his top five.
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