Kobe Bryant once revealed that his 81-point game against the Raptors was the first and last time his grandmother came to watch him play in the NBA.
Over the years, the NBA has been blessed to see some incredible scorers, but few have mastered the art of scoring as Kobe Bryant did. Kobe was a walking bucket who was capable of crazy offensive explosions, and he had his greatest game against the Toronto Raptors back in 2006.
Bryant famously racked up 81 points against the Raptors on the 22nd of January, which to this date, remains the second-most points scored in a game behind Wilt Chamberlain’s iconic 100-point outing against the New York Knicks in 1962. Bryant’s performance that night was the stuff of legends, and he revealed in an interview in 2012 that the game against the Raptors was the first and only time his grandmother came to watch him play in the NBA.
(starts at 1:35 mark):
“The day that I actually scored 81 was my grandfather’s birthday. Brett passed away a few years before and my grandmother, who had never seen me play in the NBA just because her nerves can’t take it, she flew out to California and she came to watch me play for the first time and the only time. That just so happened to be the night I scored 81.”
It almost seems like it was written in the stars! You can totally understand a family member not wanting to attend games because of nerves, but she would have felt great that she decided to make the trip for that one. Some would be wishing she had made a few more trips, as that might have helped Kobe have a few more performances like this one. He had plenty of iconic moments apart from this, though, and it is why he has been such an inspiration to so many of today’s players.
Allen Iverson Said Kobe Bryant Is The Only One Who Can Be Compared To Michael Jordan
While he was an idol for so many growing up, Kobe’s idol was, of course, Michael Jordan. Bryant also modeled his game after Jordan’s, which led to him being a spitting image of MJ on the court. They were also great friends, as they had a similar outlook toward basketball, and Jordan once joked that Kobe stole all of his moves.
As a result, it has led to them always being compared with each other, and Allen Iverson stated that Kobe is the only one who can be compared to MJ. Shaquille O’Neal has also stated in the past that Kobe is the closest to Jordan , and it is a sentiment shared by a lot of fans as well as players.
