“A casual relationship with reality”
Categories: Lakers
Jeez, did I pick the wrong night to not watch basketball. Kobe Bryant scored 81 points Sunday night against Toronto. 81. Here's how big this number is: The Lakers have played five games this season where there were less than 81 points scored by the entire team. Last year, there were 92 players who didn't score that many points in the entire season. It's entirely possible that it's more baskets than I've ever made in my entire life, but then again I've played basketball about twice since high school P.E.
Obviously, it's a personal record for Bryant, easily beating the 62 point career-high he posted last month. It's a team record, beating the 71-point game Elgin Baylor set in 1960. In fact, it's the second highest single-game total ever, only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962 scored higher. And it was a totally different game back then, scores were much higher. But they also didn't have the three-point field goal back then, so it's arguably a harder achievement.
Anyhow, the previous number-two record (also by Chamberlain) was 78 points, set in 1961. These records have been held so long they're practically set in stone, it's next to impossible to get this many points in a single game any more. I mean, it's been 44 years since Chamberlain's 100-point game. To put it another way, the last time anyone scored this many points in a single game, my parents were still in college.
So, this is frankly astounding. Even more astounding: Despite having a player capable of making history, a guy on the very short list for MVP, the Lakers still have a worse record than the Clippers.
posted by Mark Kawakami at January 24, 2006, 01:01 AM // permalink // (2) Comments