Dirk Nowitzki Reveals His Favorite Kobe Bryant Moment
It has been six years since Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki last played each other. Kobe Bryant finished the game with 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists in their final game. Nowitzki finished with nine points, five rebounds, and one assist during the Mavericks and Lakers matchup on November 13, 2015.
However, the game that the future Hall of Famer remembers between him and Bryant was on December 20, 2005. This is game; Bryant outscored the Mavericks in three quarters by himself.
“I have a crazy Kobe story, and we played them in LA one year. I don’t know if you guys remember this, but he outscored the entire Mavs team through three quarters. I think he had 63 or something as we as a team had 62. He did not play the entire fourth quarter, and he could have easily had 80 that night,” said Nowitzki on NBA Twitter Spaces on Friday morning.
“He was on an insane tear that season. In one of the situations, we had him trapped in the corner, and he couldn’t go and shoot over his man, and the shot clock was going down. So he turn over his left shoulder to shoot with his right. And he turned around and shot a three out of the corner with the left like he has done it a million times, and it went it. We were all looking at each other like this guy is from another planet, making it look easy. He was the one guy I always used to make sure I watched. I used to rush home after games, sometimes here central time to watch him finish games in LA. I was a huge Kobe fan, and of course, it was a huge tragedy a few years ago.”
In a 2020 interview with ONE37pm, Dallas Mavericks Governor Mark Cuban said Bryant could have scored a 120 that night.
“The way we were playing, I was like knock him on his a**. Guys were looking at me like it’s Kobe, and it just happened. I think he could have scored a 120,” said Cuban.
According to Darrell Armstrong, a member of that Dallas Mavericks team got torched by Bryant. He never spoke a word.
“Not one word,” Armstrong told ONE37pm via text.
When asked if the Mavericks knew Bryant would be sitting out the fourth quarter. Armstrong replied, yes, they were up big. “Yes, because they were up 30 points.”
He continued: “Stackhouse said to me, DA, just think if the game was close? He scores 100 points on us. I said yep.”
Bryant has also been named to the NBA Top 75 list along with Nowitzki.
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