It seems that Phil Jackson prevented Kobe Bryant from defeating Witt in their 100-point contest.

It seems that Phil Jackson prevented Kobe Bryant from defeating Witt in their 100-point contest.

January 23, 2006. The Staples Center was packed with 18,997 fans, among them Kobe Bryant’s grandmother, who was there to watch the only game she would ever go to in person. However, even she was unaware that 81 points later, everyone in attendance would see what stands as the single greatest individual effort in NBA history. Well, it’s almost unmatched.

Wilt Chamberlain achieved a somewhat more prestigious total in 1962: 100 points. The Stilt scored triple digits throughout the duration of 48 minutes, shooting 36-63 FG (57%) and 28-32 FT (88%), in addition to grabbing 25 rebounds. Wilt played every minute of the game to help the Philadelphia Warriors defeat the New York Knicks, even though they had a commanding 22-point lead.

To put this achievement in perspective, the three-point line didn’t even exist until five years later. This man among boys put sheer grit into every single bucket.

Bryant’s former teammate John Salley raised the notion that they would purposefully stop him from surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all-time leader in points scored while talking about how LeBron James is currently headed straight toward that goal.

“I disagreed with something that Phil Jackson said to me, but as I reached my 50s, I understood it,” Salley said.

I didn’t agree, but I did mention to Phil, ‘Hey, Kobe had 81! Whatever you did, he was going to receive 104. They would have continued to give the ball to him.

It was in the second half that Kobe Bryant would score the majority of his 81 points, lead the Lakers on a legendary comeback, and permanently disgrace the name “Jalen Rose.” He played all 12 minutes of the third quarter (scored 27) and all of the fourth quarter (scored 28) aside from 4.2 seconds when Jackson subbed him off and the crowd absolutely roared.

The bulk of Kobe Bryant’s 81 points, the Lakers’ historic comeback, and the permanent ignominy of the name “Jalen Rose” occurred in the second half. With the exception of 4.2 seconds when Jackson substituted him off and the audience erupted, he played the whole third quarter (scoring 27) and the entire fourth quarter (scoring 28).