Dec. 29, 2006
28 years, 128 days
On a night when he seemed something other than human, even Kobe Bryant couldn’t will the Lakers into avoiding an upset from the Charlotte Bobcats.
Bryant slugged through a career-high 54 minutes by firing 45 shots and making 22. He also went 10-of-12 at the line and hit four 3-pointers to rack up 58 points, but it still wasn’t enough in a 133-124 triple-overtime loss in Charlotte.
The Lakers quickly jumped out to a 12-point first-quarter lead behind Bryant, who hit six of his first seven shots, including a one-handed alley-oop jam. But the Bobcats evened things up at halftime with a 42-point second quarter.
A back-and-forth battle ensued, but Bryant missed two game-winning attempts at the end of regulation.
Still, he managed to score all seven of the Lakers’ points in double overtime to extend the game a further five minutes. From there, the gas had run out, as Charlotte ended the game with seven unanswered points.
Bryant carried one of the heaviest loads of his career, as no other Laker reached 15 points, though Luke Walton (14 points, 11 rebounds) and Kwame Brown (11 points, 15 rebounds) recorded double-doubles in 50 and 45 minutes, respectively.
The Bobcats, meanwhile, had the best team performance in their young franchise history, as Gerald Wallace (28 points), Matt Carroll (27 points), Emeka Okafor (22 points, 25 rebounds) and Raymond Felton (22 points, 15 assists) all put forth commendable efforts.
Kobe performances on this day in history: