20KD: How does Durant stack up to the rest of the 20,000 point club?
By Jelani Scott
Kobe proves why he needed two jerseys retired
Oh, there goes those Knicks again. It’s almost as if they enjoy the attention, even if it is for the wrong reasons.
On December 23, 2007, in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, Lakers great and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant did this en route to scoring 20K:
Let me spell it out for you again, in case you didn’t watch. Kobe put up 39 points on 14/28 from the field, snagged 11 rebounds and dished eight assists. It seems almost poetic that the man who is constantly compared to MJ and casts a shadow that scorers like Durant still feel to this day would accomplish this feat in a place known for being a showcase for the stars.
Bryant treated the 2007-08 season as a sort of a resurgence year and that’s not because he fell off or anything; it’s because his team finally caught back up to his greatness.
He finished his first 82-game season with averages of 28.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG and 5.4 APG and won his one and only NBA MVP award (something I still don’t understand) while leading the Lakers to their first Finals appearance since the end of the Shaq era in 2004.
A student of the game, Durant shared a special moment with Kobe his last year in OKC, which happened to be Kobe’s last in the league. According to Bay Area News Group‘s Melissa Rohlin via USA Today Sports, Durant shared this about what he learned while having dinner with Bryant:
"“Always learn and grow. Always be a sponge and be curious, whether it’s about the game, off the court, on the court. Just be curious and always grow, always want to grow as a man, as a person, as a player. It’s pretty easy to see that when you’re meeting Kobe.”"
Does anything else need to be said?