On this date in 2000, the Lakers were down by 15 in the fourth quarter of the WCF Game 7… then greatness happened.
▪️Kobe Bryant: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 ast
▪️Shaq: 18 points, 9 rebounds, 5 ast
What a time. 🔥
Ron Artest speaking on this game where Kobe scored 23 straight points against that elite Celtics defense
“I was in awe, this is incredible he’s got all our points, and doing it without our help” 🐍
But let the haters tell it 24 was carried by Gasol n the lakers “superteam”
“Wizard’s Mike was horrible” - Clueless Bron fanboys who wern’t even alive to see it
Wizards Mike was putting up BETTER numbers than prime T-mac during the dead ball era. His team was 26-21 a top 6 seed in the east. After being the WORST team in the league the year prior.
Michael Jordan before tearing his meniscus in 2001-02
25.1 PPG
6.2 RPG
5.3 APG
1.5 SPG
The last 20 games before MJ got injured, he averaged
27.5 PPG
6.4 RPG
5.2 APG
1.3 SPG
Wizards Mike was FAR more skilled than any era of Bron. Cope harder kids ✌️
RARE footage of Michael Jordan receiving the 1987-1988 NBA MVP Award.
35.0 pts - 5.5 rebs - 5.9 asts - 3.2 stls - 1.6 blks - .535 FG - .841 FT
The league MVP, DPOY with 200 steals and 100 blocks in his 50-win '88 campaign.
Must Watch: Tom Brady speaks on how he used film study to win at the highest level.
"My magic superpower wasn’t how fast I could run. It was how fast I could diagnose what they were doing."
"I could figure out what they were doing before they did it. I didn’t snap the ball unless I knew my guys would be open."
"People aren’t paying attention to the right thing."
Kobe Bryant only attempted 11 free throws the entire 2008 WCF against the Spurs 🤯 There was no mismatch hunting, no foul baiting, no stat padding, no over dribbling and no easy layups. Pure buckets.
Shane Battier on why Kobe Bryant was the hardest player he ever had to guard:
“Because there were guys that were faster and stronger and could, you know, fly and more talented than me, but I thought I was smarter than every player I played against except Kobe. Kobe was the one guy was mentally a guy I couldn’t wear down mentally or break. And so I had played Kobe I don’t know 40 times in my career. And he was a month older than me. His mentality was like unlike anybody I played against, right? If Kobe had 20, he wanted 30. If he had 30, he wanted 40. If he had 40, he wanted 50. If he had 50, he wanted 60. It was non-stop. So I just remember just like, you know, sitting in Marina Delray Ritz going to the Staple Centers. I’m just thinking to myself, “Oh sh*t man. I got this guy tonight. I got this monster. The anxiety was real. It was real. Kobe did a really funny thing with me. Like we played this game with each other that only knew we were playing. And one day he’d be super friendly to me. Hey Shane, what’s going on man? How’s the Family? How you doing? Playing great. Next day, man, stone cold assassin. He wouldn’t even look at me. Wouldn’t even look at me. You know, I fall, he’d step over me. Do all that bullsh*t right? Next game, hey man, what’s going on? So he was always trying to like play this psychological warfare.”
(Via @hoopinghollerin)
Ye & 80,000 fans singing "Heartless" at SoFi Stadium 🏟️
"That's what 80,000 people sound like ladies and gentlemen... they said I'd never be back in the states. Two sold-out concerts."