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Kobe Bryant's eight best moments while wearing No. 8
Kobe Bryant may wear No. 24 in his final game Wednesday, but he had plenty of memories donning No. 8. Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Kobe Bryant's eight best moments while wearing No. 8

The NBA career of Kobe Bryant comes to an end Wednesday night in what should be an emotionally charged evening at Staples Center. For Lakers fans, it’s hard to imagine what life is like without No. 24 on the court. Or for that matter, No. 8.

For the first 10 years for the his career, Bryant wore the number eight, before switching his jersey to No. 24, the first number he wore on his high school basketball team. Although many of us seem to remember Kobe most fondly as No. 24, the “Black Mamba” had more than his fair share of amazing games and moments wearing his first official NBA uniform number. So with that said, here are Kobe Bryant’s eight best moments as No. 8.

1) Kobe scores 81 points

On Jan. 22, 2006, Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell stubbornly decided not to double-team Kobe Bryant as he caught fire from the field. It was a decision Mitchell would come to regret and help facilitate one of the greatest individual performances ever in professional sports. Bryant scored 81 points that night against the Raptors, including 56 in the second half alone, as the Lakers won 122-104.

It was an earth-shattering effort from Bryant, who shot 28-46 from the field and 18-20 from the free throw line. Bryant became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to score over 80 points in a game and in the process left no doubt in the minds of basketball fans that No. 8 was a different kind of animal all together.

2) Kobe scores 62 points in three quarters

In some ways, Bryant’s Dec. 20, 2005, performance against the Dallas Mavericks was more impressive than his 81-point game the following month. In three quarters of play, Kobe outscored the entire Mavericks team. Going into the fourth quarter, the score was Mavs - 61, Kobe - 62.

OK, the actual score was 95-61; Kobe did have teammates after all. The nature of the blowout prompted Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to sit Kobe for the entire fourth quarter as the Lakers won easily. But if Phil had allowed Kobe to stay in the game, we might actually be talking about Kobe’s 81-point outburst as his second best scoring game. Let your mind wrap around that for a moment.

3) Game 4 of the 2000 NBA Finals in overtime

By 2000, Lakers fans knew Kobe was likely going to be an all-time great, but Game 4 of that year’s NBA Finals was the night Bryant made that fact clear to all basketball fans. Up 2-1 in the series against the Indiana Pacers, the pivotal Game 4 went to overtime, in which L.A.'s alpha dog and 2000 regular-season MVP Shaquille O’Neal fouled out.

One superstar had left the court for the Lakers, but another was still on it. A 21-year-old Bryant, who had missed the previous game with sprained ankle, led the Lakers to a 120-118 victory in which he scored 28 points, including three clutch field goals in the final two minutes of overtime. The Lakers would win the series in six games, and Kobe would earn his first of five rings.

4) Game 4 of the first round against Phoenix in 2006

Considered heavy underdogs against Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2006 NBA postseason, the Lakers entered Game 4 of the series with a 2-1 advantage on the Suns. In a tightly contested matchup, the Lakers found themselves down by two with just a few seconds remaining in regulation. The Suns, however, turned the ball over on their inbounds pass, and Kobe made a gravity-defying shot on the baseline at the other end of the court to send the game into overtime.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Lakers again found themselves down, this time by one point, with 10 seconds remaining. Instead of fouling the Suns, the Lakers forced a jump ball. Off that jump ball, Kobe dribbled down the court and sank one of the most iconic buzzer-beaters of his career. The Lakers won 99-98 in a performance that embodied everything that No. 8 was all about, stepping up when it mattered most to his team.

5) First All-Star Game MVP

Although Michael Jordan was back in the league, Kobe wasn’t about to let M.J. steal his thunder in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. With the likes of Jordan, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett all on the court, it was Bryant who owned that night in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Kobe scored 31 points and won his first of four NBA All-Star Game MVPs. The West defeated the East by the score of 135-120, and Kobe firmly established himself as a force not to be trifled with in the NBA.

6) Kobe score 55 against Jordan and the Wizards

It’s no secret that Kobe has had a penchant for taking certain games personally. March 28, 2003, at home against the Wizards was going to be the final time No. 8 would have a chance to prove to the aforementioned Michael Jordan that he was on his level.

Often guarded by Jordan on defense, Bryant torched the Wizards for 55 points, including an incredible 42 in the first half alone. The Lakers won 108-94, and the symbolic torch that M.J. had held for so long was officially passed on to Kobe.

7) Kobe somehow wins the Pacific Division in 2004


Despite having a roster that featured names like Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton and Karl Malone, Kobe and the Lakers still needed a win in game No. 82 to clinch the Pacific Division in 2004.

In a double-overtime thriller against the Trail Blazers, Kobe hit several seemingly impossible shots, including the game-winning three-pointer at the end of the second overtime as time expired to win the Pacific Division for the purple and gold. It was another awe-inspiring performance from Kobe, who by that time had made a habit of it.

8) Kobe to Shaq, 2000 Western Conference Finals, Game 7

It was Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals. The Lakers were on the verge of being eliminated at home by the Portland Trail Blazers as they trailed by 15 points heading into the fourth quarter. By today’s standards, 15 points might not seem like all that much, but back in 2000, before the three-point and analytics revolution, a 15-point deficit felt more like 25 points.

But like he would do so many times in his 20-year career, Kobe embraced the moment and led the Lakers on a fourth-quarter comeback. The Lakers rallied to take the lead, and with less than a minute remaining, No. 8 drove a dagger through the hearts of Blazers fans in the form of an assist. Kobe blew past Scottie Pippen and threw an alley-oop to Shaq, who hammered it home with one hand.

The alley-oop remains one of the most iconic moments in Lakers history and epitomized what Kobe and Shaq were at their best when playing together. The Lakers defeated the Trail Blazers 89-84 and went on to win their first of three straight championships.

When the Lakers inevitably retire Kobe’s jersey a few years from now, the team might want to consider breaking convention and putting both No. 24 and No. 8 up in the rafters at Staples Center. Bryant split his 20-year career down the middle, wearing both numbers for 10 years apiece. And, as you can see, Kobe had no shortage of special moments wearing No. 8.

Also, who in the hell would ever have the guts to wear those numbers in a Lakers uniform again? Save for Kobe himself, of course.

Can you name the top 25 NBA leading scorers of all-time?

(*) Asterisk denotes currently active players. 

SCORE:
0/25
TIME:
5:00
38,387
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
36,928
Karl Malone
35,367*
LeBron James
33,643
Kobe Bryant
32,292
Michael Jordan
31,560
Dirk Nowitzki
31,419
Wilt Chamberlain
28,596
Shaquille O'Neal
27,409
Moses Malone
27,370*
Carmelo Anthony
27,313
Elvin Hayes
26,946
Hakeem Olajuwon
26,710
Oscar Robertson
26,688
Dominique Wilkins
26,496
Tim Duncan
26,397
Paul Pierce
26,395
John Havlicek
26,071
Kevin Garnett
25,728
Vince Carter
25,613
Alex English
25,279
Reggie Miller
25,192
Jerry West
24,815
Patrick Ewing
24,505
Ray Allen
24,368
Allen Iverson

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