Kobe Bryant: Top 5 moments with the Los Angeles Lakers

#2: 81 Points Against the Toronto Raptors

The next moment is arguably the most iconic of Kobe’s career and one of the most impressive games that we have ever seen. This was the second-highest single scoring game in NBA history only behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point game.

Although, Kobe’s game was lower-scoring it was against much tougher competition than Wilt faced and nonetheless is still the highest-scoring game in modern NBA history. In Kobe’s 81-point scoring explosion, he shot 28 for 46 from the field, 7 for 13 from three, and 18 for 20 from the foul line. When asked about his performance after the game, Kobe was quoted as saying:

"“Not even in my dreams, that was something that just happened. It’s tough to explain. It’s just one of those things. It really hasn’t, like, set in for me. It’s about the `W,’ that’s why I turned it on. It turned into something special. To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying.”"

Possibly most impressive of the entire night is the fact that Kobe scored 55 of his 81 points in the second half of the game. If he were to have kept that pace in the first half as well he would have scored an astronomical 110 points, demolishing Wilt’s record. The Lakers won the game 112-104. With Kobe also averaging 35.4 points per game this season, it showed just how heavily the team relied on him and his scoring to succeed.