As the reigning superstar on the NBA’s proven best team over the past 2 seasons, Kobe Bryant has had to endure a ton of criticism to go along with all those awards and praises that come with being arguably one of the Top 3 shooting guards in the history of the NBA.
Now that the Lakers’ incumbent franchise player has reached the tender age of 32, many have begun to question whether the “Black Mamba” has lost a step or has finally begun to show the effects of playing in more than 1,000 career contests at the highest level, especially when the 2 time defending champs lose 3 consecutive games around the holidays.
Heading into their New Year’s Eve showdown against the upstart 76ers, Kobe ranked 4th in the Association in scoring(25.2 ppg) with his rebounding, assists, and steal numbers at or near his career averages.
No one nows really what to expect whenever Bryant returns to his native Philadelphia ever since the Philly faithful began booing him incessantly after the ’01 Finals, when the Lakers bested the Allen Iverson led Sixers 4-1. Earlier this season, Philly held Bryant to a season low 9 points, even though the Lakers emerged victorious.
This time around was different, as Kobe pretty much had his way soring 33 points against Sixer defenders Jodie Meeks, rookie Evan Turner, and especially veteran Andres Nocioni, to to whom he served up a facial we haven’t seen out of the Mamba for some time now.
Led by 2nd year point guard Jrue Holiday’s 19 points and 11 dimes, the Sixers kept the game close until Kobe nailed a go-ahead jumper near the 1 minute mark to give the Lakers a 102-98 hard fought victory.
Check out Kobe’s facial of Andres Nocioni:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
