Kobe Bryant scores 61 points against Knicks in Madison Square Garden

[QUOTE=guy]The Bulls won 3 of those 5 not lose them.[/QUOTE]

Of the five, the Bulls lost to the Hawks, Celtics and Magic... two of which were in overtime, with the Celtics game having a second overtime... so they were very close...

[QUOTE=bleedinpurpleTwo]if anyone other than Kobe dropped that 61, there would not be any such fuss. It would just be high praise...and deservedly so.
Instead, we get all this, "well MJ blah blah blah"[/QUOTE]

Some of you guys help bring that on yourselves though... real talk. :confusedshrug:

[QUOTE=MaxFly]Of the five, the Bulls lost to the Hawks, Celtics and Magic... two of which were in overtime, with the Celtics game having a second overtime... so they were very close...[/QUOTE]

Oh you're right. My bad. I didn't realize they lost to the Magic, I could've sworn they won that game. Oh well.

[QUOTE=bleedinpurpleTwo]if anyone other than Kobe dropped that 61, there would not be any such fuss. It would just be high praise...and deservedly so.
Instead, we get all this, "well MJ blah blah blah"[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MaxFly]Some of you guys help bring that on yourselves though... real talk. :confusedshrug:[/QUOTE]

Right. Look at who the "MJ>Kobe" posts are replying to. It's not what GTS wrote (which I agree with) -- about how it's an entertaining performance that we should all just enjoy. It's the posts that say, "[I]Kobe scored 61. Oldest to score 60. Kobe > MJ. Kobe is GOAT[/I] :pimp: " that generate all the responses.

When you call out the dogs, don't get upset when you get bit. And for those that complain about the responses...why? Why do you care? Go to the Lakers forum where they are sure to appreciate it. Or don't click on the obvious "Kobe > MJ" or "MJ > Kobe" links. It's that simple.

I guarantee that if Arenas or Lebron or Ginobli scored 78 points and their fans said so-and-so > MJ, there would be some discussions. It's not just Kobe. Kobe fans just call out the dogs more than other fans.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AJodNs2p74[/url]

I wonder what the dumbasses in this thread would say about Larry shooting until the buzzer to get 60.

[QUOTE=dajadeed][url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AJodNs2p74[/url]

I wonder what the dumbasses in this thread would say about Larry shooting until the buzzer to get 60.[/QUOTE]

reposted.

[quote=Da_Realist]

I guarantee that if Arenas or Lebron or Ginobli scored 78 points and their fans said so-and-so > MJ, there would be some discussions. It's not just Kobe. Kobe fans just call out the dogs more than other fans.[/QUOTE]

Start a thread that says, "Bird > MJ", I guarantee there will be 300 responses by the end of the week. Look up any thread that does a comparison and you will have a ton of responses. Look up "Kobe > Bird" for instance.

The only reason Kobe generates more responses when he plays well is because his fans want to compare him more often than most other fans.

[QUOTE=243354]kobe-5 60+ games in 4 1/2 seasons as the no.1
mj-5 in his whole career.:roll:[/QUOTE]

Uhh, Jordan had 4 of his 5 games of 60+ in a 4 year span also. What's your point?

[QUOTE=Da_Realist]Tale of the tape.

[B][U]Michael Jordan[/U][/B]

April 20, 1986
63 vs Boston
Also had 5 rebs and 6 asts
Boston won 67 games in 86
Went on to become NBA Champions
[I]** Happened in the playoffs[/I]

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198703040DET.html"]March 4, 1987[/URL]
61 vs Detroit
He also had 7 rebs, 3 asts, 3 stls and 3 blks
Detroit won 52 games in 87
Playoff team

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198704160CHI.html"]April 16, 1987[/URL]
61 vs Atlanta
Also had 10 rebs, 1 ast, 4 stls and 1 blk
Atlanta won 57 games in 87
Playoff team

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199003280CLE.html"]March 28, 1990[/URL]
69 vs Cleveland
Also had 18 rebs, 6 asts, 4 stls and 1 blk
Cleveland won 42 games in 90
Playoff team

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199301160CHI.html"]January 16, 1993[/URL]
64 vs Orlando
Also had 6 rebs, 1 ast and 5 stls
Orlando won 41 games in 1993

[U][B]Kobe Bryant[/B][/U]

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200601220LAL.html"]January 22, 2006[/URL]
81 vs Toronto
Also had 6 rebs, 2 asts, 3 stls and 1 blk
Toronto won 27 games in 2006

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200703160LAL.html"]March 16, 2007[/URL]
65 vs Portland
Also had 7 rebs, 3 asts and 3 stls
Portland won 32 games in 2007

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200512200LAL.html"]December 20, 2005[/URL]
62 vs Dallas
Also had 8 rebs, 0 asts, 3 stls
Dallas won 60 games in 2006
Playoff team

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200703220MEM.html"]March 22, 2007[/URL]
60 vs Memphis
Also had 5 rebs and 4 asts
Memphis won 22 games in 2007

[URL="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200902020NYK.html"]February 2, 2009[/URL]
61 vs New York
Also had 0 rebs, 3 asts and 1 blk
New York is 21-26 so far this season[/QUOTE]
You convinently failed to mention that the Mavericks weren't just a mere Playoff team, but competed for the NBA Finals that season, and were top ranked in team defense I believe that year. But that is without a doubt his best scoring game as a pro.

Everything else is dead on accurate.

The only other context you could bring into the conversation to make the playing field some what more leveled is by asking how many of those 60 point games came in overtime?

Kobe's only had one that came with an extra period, that being the Portland game. MJ, his Celtics performance, Magic performance, Cleveland performance all came with extra periods. So while yes, MJ is more impressive in that he did it in meaningful games, against stiff and/or great competition he also did it with extra time on the clock. Kobe, most of his performances coming against weak competition, still put up huge numbers in regulation, sometimes even sitting out huge chunks of time in said games. Kobe deserves some praise for that, does he not?

[QUOTE=MaxFly] but if we're going to downplay accomplishments, one could easily point out that Jordan lost 3 of those 5 games in which he scored 60+ [/QUOTE]

Playing better teams will do that to you. The average record of teams which Kobe has scored 50+ on is something like 39-43. The average record of teams he's scored 40+ on in the last 4 seasons is even worse (like 37-45).

Every time I think Kobe lost his outside shooting touch he goes off. Hope he goes for 100 one time.

[QUOTE=Samurai Swoosh]Forgot that the Mavericks weren't just a Playoff team, but competed for the NBA Finals. But that is without a doubt his best scoring game as a pro/ Everything else is dead on accurate. The only other context you could bring into the conversation to make the playing field some what more leveled is by asking how many of those 60 point games came in overtime? Kobe's only had one that came with an extra period, that being the Portland game. MJ, his Celtics performance, Magic performance, Cleveland performance all came with extra periods. So while yes, MJ is more impressive in that he did it in meaningful games, against stiff and/or great competition he also did it with extra time on the clock. Kobe, most of his performances coming against weak competition, still put up huge numbers in regulation, sometimes even sitting out huge chunks of time in said games. Kobe deserves some praise for that, does he not?[/QUOTE]

Good point. He deserves some praise for that. In determining which player had the best 60-point performances, it depends on your perspective. I think it would be harder for Kobe to accomplish what MJ did than for MJ to do what Kobe did.

There have been many times MJ could have done more but didn't have the desire to push it all the way. A good example is Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Portland in 1992. If MJ had Kobe's mentality and his eye on the record books, he would have crushed his own record of 63 and probably gone for 70 even as Portland waved the white flag. Clearly MJ put on the brakes after halftime -- scoring only 6 (I think) in the second half. And that's against a Finals opponent. Don't think he could have done that against the old Sacramento Kings (Kenny Smith edition) or the LA Clippers (pretty much ANY year until he retired)?

It takes a different kind of person to get so worked up over scoring against such weak competition as a 22 win team or a 35 win team. It's not that it's not impressive, it's that most of his great scoring outbursts are limited to these. That, and the fact that far too often he doesn't bring that same efficiency against the better teams.

If Kobe scores 60 vs the Celtics or Cavs this week, you won't hear a peep out of me.

My whole thing is that I don't understand when Kobe does something significant MJ is always dragged in then stupid debates start to no end.

Kobe hit 61 -- most ever in MSG. That's a pretty good accomplishment no matter how bad the defense was. Especially for a guy who's been playing 13 years.

i don't think this thread was started to deify Kobe, just to give him props for this one game.

[QUOTE=Da_Realist]Good point. He deserves some praise for that. In determining which player had the best 60-point performances, it depends on your perspective. I think it would be harder for Kobe to accomplish what MJ did than for MJ to do what Kobe did.

There have been many times MJ could have done more but didn't have the desire to push it all the way. A good example is Game 1 of the NBA Finals against Portland in 1992. If MJ had Kobe's mentality and his eye on the record books, he would have crushed his own record of 63 and probably gone for 70 even as Portland waved the white flag. Clearly MJ put on the brakes after halftime -- scoring only 3 (I think) in the second half. And that's against a Finals opponent. Don't think he could have done that against the old Sacramento Kings (Kenny Smith edition) or the LA Clippers (pretty much ANY year until he retired)?

It takes a different kind of person to get so worked up over scoring against such weak competition as a 22 win team or a 35 win team. It's not that it's not impressive, it's that most of his great scoring outbursts are limited to these. That, and the fact that far too often he doesn't bring that same efficiency against the better teams.

If Kobe scores 60 vs the Celtics or Cavs this week, you won't hear a peep out of me.[/QUOTE]
I totally agree. And as I stated in another thread, Kobe's my second favorite hooper od all time and I completely agree. I'd love to see him do this against ELITE competition. Or under the real bright lights and pressure on the biggest stage in the Playoffs.

[QUOTE=chopchop20]My whole thing is that I don't understand when Kobe does something significant MJ is always dragged in then stupid debates start to no end.

Kobe hit 61 -- most ever in MSG. That's a pretty good accomplishment no matter how bad the defense was. Especially for a guy who's been playing 13 years.

i don't think this thread was started to deify Kobe, just to give him props for this one game.[/QUOTE]
13 seasons have to do with it? He's only 30 years old in the grand scheme of things. He's still a young kat.

[QUOTE=Samurai Swoosh]13 seasons have to do with it? He's only 30 years old in the grand scheme of things. He's still a young kat.[/QUOTE]

Yeah but that takes a toll on your knees and body -- look at Vince and T-Mac, even Dwade has slowed some.