Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryantis an American retired professional basketball player. He played his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He entered the NBA directly from high school and won five NBA championships with the Lakers. Bryant is an 18-time All-Star, 15-time member of the All-NBA Team, and 12-time member of the All-Defensive team. He led the NBA in scoring during two seasons, and ranks third on both the league's all-time regular season scoring and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 August 1978
CityPhiladelphia, PA
CountryUnited States of America
I think this was our best game this season. We played very well at both ends of the court consistently. We did a great job containing our energy and when we went to our bench they came in and maintained our energy. We had guys step up consistently and make big plays. That is what we have to do. If we can keep this rolling, we will make a lot of noise.
Weird things happen in the NBA, and tonight was one of them. We had a chance to win the game and just didn't close it out. They made some big shots down the stretch and came away with the victory. Even though (Odom) made a mistake, as a team, defense down the stretch cost us the ballgame.
That was a great class. A lot of great players came out of that draft. I don't think people are fully aware of the talent that came out of that draft.
It doesn't really seem like we're overly jumping for joy, but it is a great accomplishment for us. We came from last season when we didn't make it. This season nobody expected us to make it and here we are.
This decision came only after reviewing all the evidence -- testimonial evidence and physical evidence. The standards are the same in this case as in any other case,
It is what it is. We came out, gave a good effort. They executed better, knocked down more shots and won the game.
It was just a special moment. We're honored to be a part of it, really. This is truly a historical event and we felt like we came out here and gave them a good show.
They came out and they zoned up and they trapped and they doubled, and we just continued to move the ball. It took me three quarters to kind of get the rhythm down on what they were trying to do defensively so I could go into attack mode in the fourth quarter, where I was able to start attacking the basket a little bit and get something going.
They came out and played a lot harder than we did. After the last showing they had on their home floor, I think they took it upon themselves and played with more effort and more heart. And they did it.
He's such a quiet kid. That was the most emotion we've seen out of him all year. I think he was waiting for this moment to go in and compete against Shaquille. I had the same thing when I first came into the league (in 1996) and competed against Michael (Jordan).
They did a good job defensively. They were just crowding me and trapping me every time I came off a pick-and-roll or when I was in transition. We were playing so well as a team. Everybody was contributing. We had a nice lead. There was really no reason for me to push it or force shots.
I'm proud of us. We came back and played hard. We got into a big hole in the first quarter but we were able to fight back. Late in the fourth quarter, we were able to make a push and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game. Both teams played hard, it's a shame somebody had to lose.
I was aggressive. I saw how they played defense and decided to come at them.
I thought we'd have our ups and downs being that it's a new system, trying to learn it. It's just moving the ball, spacing, timing, rhythm, things like that. I knew it would kind of be like a roller-coaster ride.