1. Kobe Bryant’s 81 points from his historic Jan. 22, 2006 game against the Raptors are 10 more than anyone else of his era. (Davis Robinson had 71 in 1994 on the final day of the season to snatch a scoring title away from Shaquille O’Neal.) Michael Jordan’s 69 (and various other performances by MJ) is the only other modern player within 18 points of Kobe’s 81, which is second all time behind, of course, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points. Wilt also holds the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 10th highest-scoring games.
2. Bryant’s 81 points in a game in which the Lakers scored 122 is the highest percentage a single player had of his team’s output (66%) and the highest percentage of points one player has ever scored in a a game for both teams (36%) in NBA history.
3. Fourteen games before dropping 81, Kobe scored 62 points against the Mavs. It was the most points he’d scored in a game up until that point and is currently third on his all-time list.
4. Lest you think Kobe was just throwing up shots willy-nilly, his .609 shooting percentage that night was his third-highest of the season.
5. His 81 points also raised his scoring average 1.1 points over that single game, which is absurd when you consider than it came just short of halfway through the season.
6. Kobe has played the 19th most games in NBA history (1,293) but has the third most points (ahead of Michael Jordan). However, that stat won’t be as impressive after Kobe retires because, barring injury, he should move up to No. 11 by the end of the season.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
7. No one else in NBA/ABA history has played three decades (20 years) with the same team.
8. No other guard has played 20 years either.
9. Kobe will finish his career with the third-most free throws in NBA history and the fifth-most attempts. However, he’s only No. 84 with his .837 average, which barely puts him above Bill Laimbeer.
10. The famous ball-hog is actually No. 124 career in assists per game (4.77). Because I know you were wondering, MJ is No. 91 with 5.11.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
11. On basketball-reference.com, Kobe is listed as having four nicknames, some of which we all know, others I’m not so sure about: Black Mamba, KB24, Vino.
12. Vino is a horrible nickname and, frankly, KB24 isn’t far behind. Black Mamba though? That’s some A+ stuff.
13. Career single-season highs for Kobe: Games — 82 (in 2002-2003, 2007-08, 2008-2009 and 2010-2011). That means that in those three seasons alone, Kobe played 300 NBA games, including the playoffs. And that’s not to mention his Team USA games up to and including the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (It’ll be a crime if Kobe is left off the 2016 Olympic roster, by the way. I’m sure one of the younger players with a gold already would be all too happy to give up his spot.) Where were we. Oh, right: single-season highs.
14. Points: 35.4 (2005-06, the year of his 81-point game)
15. Rebounds per game: 6.9 (2002-03)
(Mark J. Terrill, AP)
16. Assists per game: 6.3 (2013-2014)
17. Steals per game: 2.2 (2002-2003))
18. Field goal percentage: .469 (2001-02)
19. 3-pointers per game: 2.3 (2005-06)
20. 3-point percentage: .383 (2002-03)
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
21. Effective field-goal percentage (adjusts for value of shot): .504 (2012-13)
22. Free throws per game: 8.7 (2006-07)
23. Playoff points per game (minimum two series played): 32.1 (2002-2003)
24. Playoff points per game in a championship season: 30.2 (2008-2009)
25. Points in All-Star game: 37 (2011)
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
26. A number of good-to-great NBA players were taken ahead of Bryant (more than usual), who went No. 13 in the 1996 NBA draft to the Charlotte Hornets before his quick trade to Los Angeles Lakers. They included Allen Iverson (No. 1), Marcus Camby (No. 2), Shareef Abdur-Raheem, Stephon Marbury (No. 4), Ray Allen (No. 5) and Antoine Walker (No. 6). But there were still plenty of busts including Samaki Walker (No. 9), Todd Fuller (No. 11) and Vitaly Potapenko (No. 12).
27. Kobe won just one NBA MVP award, one less than Steve Nash and tied with Derrick Rose.
28. He did, however, make 17 All-Star games (second behind Kareem) and have 11 first-team All-NBA selections (tied with Karl Malone for best ever).
(AP)
29. Vino won four All-Star game MVPs, tied for most ever, which is about right.
30. Kobe was also a nine-time NBA first-team all-defense selection, tying him for most ever with MJ, Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton. (The award has only been around since the late-1960s though)
31. Only two players have more playoff points than Kobe’s 5,640 — MJ and Kareem.
(AP)
32. Quick, how many scoring championships does Kobe have? (Waits for your guess.) Would you believe it’s only two — won in back to back seasons of 2006 and 2007? That’s one less than Bob McAdoo. Two fewer than George Gervin, Allen Iverson and Kevin Duant and the same as Tracy McGrady and Adrian Dantley.
33. Kobe had 134 40-point games in his career. As of now, he’s gone for 40+ in 10.3% of his games.
34. Bryant has the most missed shots in NBA history (about 14,000), which is more than 500 past his closest “competitor” and 1,500 more than his closest contemporary.
35. Bryant led the NBA in missed shots six times.
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
36. Kobe’s similarity score on basketball-reference is closest to John Stockton, who actually had more win shares than Kobe in every year except their rookie seasons.
37. How polarizing is Kobe? On basketball-reference, there is a fan index that measures a player’s popularity. MJ, Bird, Hakeem, Stockton/Malone, Duncan, LeBron (!), Garnett, Ewing, Chris Paula and Charles Barkley are all in the top 20. Kobe is ranked No. 348, just behind Cuttino Mobley.
38. In his career, Kobe won 17 player of the month awards, close to the equivalent of two full season. He won 33 player of the week awards, basically the equivalent of one season.’
39. In each of the five years Kobe’s Lakers won the title, he never led the team in win shares. Shaq led the first three times and Pau Gasol led the final two.
40. Kobe will have worn his No. 8 and his No. 24 for a decade each upon his retirement.
(Getty Images)
