newline

In his final game, Kobe showed us that he never lost his scoring touch, going off for 60 against the Utah Jazz. He actually outscored the entire Jazz team 23-21 in the fourth quarter. This game also made him the oldest player to ever score 60 in a game at 37 years and 234 days of age. This game was a fantastic way to send Kobe off into retirement

newline

Speaking of his otherworldly ability to score, back in 2005 Kobe went in the Dallas Mavericks scoring 62 points across the first three quarters. Bryant went 18-for-31 shooting from the field and went 22-for-25 at the free-throw line. Due to his dominance he sat for the entire fourth quarter, or else he surely would have at least hit 70. The best way to describe this game is after three quarters Kobe had scored 62, meanwhile the entire Mavericks team had 61.

newline

Even after having very unKobe-like struggles early in this game, as we all know there is no quit in Kobe. Despite going 6 for 24 from the field Kobe led a 13-point comeback in the fourth to capture his fifth and last championship. He scored 10 of his game leading 23 in the fourth and pulled down 15 boards. For his work, Bryant was given his second consecutive finals MVP. Kobe has said this was easily the most satisfying of his five championships.

newline

In 2008 Kobe was one of the leaders of the Redeem team looking to capture gold and make up for their embarrassing play in 2004. Kobe as team captain set the tone for the squad. In the gold medal game against Spain, Bryant (and Dwayne Wade) consistently came up clutch; especially in the fourth with both hitting multiple threes in the dying minutes of the game to secure the victory. Kobe scored 20 points in this Gold Medal game, including 13 in the fourth quarter and led the game with six assists. Many people call this one of the greatest international games ever played.

newline

What else could it be? To bring up this game and say Kobe scored 81 points the second-highest single-game total ever and end it there would be a tragedy. What happened in this game is more complicated than that. The Black Mamba went nuclear making NBA players look like high schoolers as he routinely juked guys out and hit shots in their faces. Funny enough the game started out normally and seemed destined to be a Lakers loss. Kobe only scored 26 in the first half with the Lakers scoring 49. Kobe then decided he wasn't in the mood to lose this game scoring 27 of the team's 42 points in the third, then a ridiculous 28 of the team's 31 in the fourth. Overall 81 of the Lakers' 122 points were scored by Bryant. On this night Kobe was as close to perfect as an NBA player can get, If you look close enough I'm pretty sure he was glowing.

newline

Slam Dunk winner - In 1997 Kobe put on a nasty performance to win the slam dunk contest, becoming the youngest winner in history.
Matt Barnes inbound - This is a weird one, but it’s easily a top Kobe moment; truly illustrating his toughness and Mamba mentality.