Nov. 23, 1997
19 years, 92 days
With the sheer dominance of the three-peat era that soon followed, the late 1990s Lakers teams can often be overlooked.
But in the moment the Lakers looked like one of the franchise’s classic units, as they beat the Clippers, 119-102, to improve to 11-0.
While Eddie Jones led the way with 28 points, including a 13-of-16 mark on free throws, Kobe Bryant provide firepower off the bench early in his first all-star season.
The teenager racked up 24 points, while also pitching in five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Though he didn’t shoot well (8-of-21), he consistently drew fouls toward an 8-of-9 clip on foul shots.
In addition to Jones and Bryant, the rest of the Lakers simply outperformed the Clippers, and the purple and gold shot 50.0 percent and held a 45-28 advantage in rebounding.
Kobe performances on this day in history: