Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant played his last professional game against the Utah Jazz On April 13, 2016, scoring 60 points on 50 shots in 101-96 win.
Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward, who was playing for Utah at the time, shared his perspective of that night on Podcast P with Paul George.
“Before the game, it certainly was a movie with all the celebrities that were there. Just the buzz that was in the air. I mean, you could feel it,” Hayward said on Podcast P. “It was unreal, unlike any game I’ll ever play in again.”
Bryant struggled for a majority of the game and the Jazz led by 15 at halftime. However, in vintage fashion, the then 37-year-old poured in 23 points in the fourth quarter and willed the Lakers to victory.
“I will say we were up pretty handily most of the game. He probably air-balled like six or seven times, I mean he shot 50 shots,” Hayward said as the crew laughed. “I don’t think he was that good throughout most of the game. Now the last three minutes, he was special. The last three minutes was unreal. It was vintage Kobe.”
Hayward described how animated the Lakers’ home crowd at Staples Center was that night from well before tip-off, even booing Jazz players for getting steals. Bryant’s teammates were doing everything possible to make the night all about him, relentlessly screening for him and looking to feed him more shot oppurtunities.
“There were people on his team that were passing up wide open shots. [When] they got the ball, ‘Where’s Kobe? Let me get Kobe the ball. How can I screen for Kobe?'” Hayward continued. “I mean, the illegal screens that were set, the refs had to be on it. The [amount of] illegal screens that were set was wild. It ended up being his night. Like I said it last three minutes were a movie.”
Hayward, who considers himself a Bryant fan and had 17 points that night, has a framed picture of two shaking hands in the captain’s meeting before tip-off and says the Jazz players received a piece of memorabilia to commemorate the moment.
A special night ended with a legendary line from the man of the hour. “What else can I say?” Bryant postgame at center court. “Mamba out.”