Star 81

I watched the double OT Suns/Sonics game today. It was an instant classic in my opinion, the NBA equivalent of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed going blow for blow (and, like Balboa/Creed, neither defended much). Ray Allen was amazing, the definition of clutch. So were Steve Nash and Shawn Marion; there just wasn't enough time on the clock. Seriously, the Suns didn't really lose that game. The Sonics won, but it could have gone either way.

But that's not the most amazing thing that happened today in the NBA. Not by far.

Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a single game.

Now, I despise Bryant as a person, but I won't take any shots at him, at least for the rest of the day. He deserves some respect for this stunning achievement.

81 points.

As any serious basketball fan knows, the only player to ever score more points in a single game was Wilt Chamberlain.

I wonder if Kobe's next goal is to sleep with over 20,000 women.

(sorry, that one was too good to pass up)

81 points!!!

The most Jordan ever scored was 69. Scoring like Bryant did today truly is like catching lightning in a bottle.

Just think, he was 20 points away from actually beating Wilt's record. And if you don't think he's going to make a serious push for 101, you're wrong. Kobe heard all the naysayers dissing him for opting out of the 3rd quarter in that 62-point game he had against Dallas last month. He was just itching for a chance to right that wrong. Now that he's scored 81 (81 fucking points!!!), some people in the press are invariably going to start wondering aloud (or in print) about whether Kob has a chance to break 100.

But even if he doesn't (I say he'll try, but there's a big difference between trying and doing), his game today will be remembered forever. Too bad the team he played today was my hometown team, the Toronto Raptors. Still, I ain't mad. As I wrote last week, when something great happens in this sport, I admire it. Tomorrow I'll probably go back to hating Bryant again -- and part of me is bitter that it was Bryant, and not, say, Allen Iverson, who busted 81 -- but the man deserves his props.

Good job, Kobe Bryant. Congratulations.

PS - as I wrote in this post last month, I knew it was going to happen this season: http://psychedelickimchi.blogspot.com/2006/01/buggin-out-73.html

[pats self on back like Barry Horowitz]

PPS - If I find out ESPN, Sports Illustrated, or some other publication has stolen my headline, I'm calling my lawyer.