After 20 historical and incredible seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe finally plays his last game of his basketball career Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz. It was truly a unforgettable night and moment for sports fans and everybody in the world. Even though the Lakers ended the season with the worst record in franchise history, that didn’t stop Kobe from going into killer attack mode and carrying his team on his back for the last game at Staples Center. His first quarter minutes was sloppy and he was missing shots but as the game progressed he slowly regained confidence and went all out and gave everything he had into his last game.
At the end of the game, with time winding down and Lakers being down by 1 point in the fourth quarter, The Mamba took the ball and drained a 2 point shot to put his team ahead by 1 and the rest is history. The Lakers ended up coming back and winning the game 101-96 and boy was it sweet. Even though stat wise he attempted a record 50 shot’s in a game, dropping 60 is not easy at all, let alone getting 40. However, even without the championship win his final year, it was still a perfect way to end this Hall of Fame player’s career with a win. He gave everything he had into this game and team organization, all the blood, sweat and tears left on the hardwood. With 4.1 seconds left people chanting “Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!†and this is what Bryant said to the crowd after the game :
“I can’t believe how fast 20 years went by. Man, this is crazy,” “This is absolutely crazy … and to be standing at center court with you guys, my teammates behind me, appreciating the journey that we’ve been on — we’ve been through our ups, been through our downs. I think the most important part is we all stayed together throughout.”
Growing up a “Die Hard†Lakers fan and with the trade from Charlotte to Los Angeles to having a record 20 seasons with a single team earned him 2 Finals MVP’s and a 5 time NBA Champion. “All I can do here is thank you guys,” he told the crowd. “Thank you guys for all the years of support. Thank you guys for all the motivation. Thank you for all the inspiration.” “What can I say? Mamba out,” Said by Bryant while he closed his ending speech. Kobe Bean Bryant will go down as one of the most iconic, hard-working, and best players to ever play the game in history.