“I didn’t give Kobe Bryant anything free in his final 60 point game”: Gordon Hayward maintains that Utah were competing to beat the Lakers in the Black Mamba’s final bow

Most NBA players could never imagine doing what Kobe Bryant did in his final game of one of the longest NBA careers.

Kobe Bean Bryant was one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball. In his 20-year long NBA career Kobe gave the basketball community everything they could ask for.

Recently included in NBA’s top players of all time on NBA’s 75th anniversary and enshrined into the Hall of Fame earlier this year, the Lakers legend won everything that an NBA player dreams of.

There are probably just 2-3 guys who have a better resume than the 5-time NBA champion. His mentality though has become as famous since his passing as his success with basketball.

Also read: Kobe Bryant was diabolical while breaking down his game-winner vs Pistons in Game 2, 2004 NBA Finals

Kobe came into the league in 1996 and in his debut, he scored 0 points. That was a day and then there was a day when he retired. The Mamba scored a mammoth 60 points on his final NBA game.

Did Hayward and the Utah Jazz let Kobe Bryant Score 60?

Although that was not the only 60-point game of his career, to do it on the last match of his magnificent, second-to-none NBA career, takes the mentality that defined Kobe Bryant’s life.

In the last game of his career against the Utah Jazz, the 18-time All-Star had his 6th and a final 60-point game. The only player who has more 60-point games than the Mamba is Wilt Chamberlain.

At the time many people were suggesting that Kobe was let to score that many points because it was his final game and that Gordon Hayward of the Jazz let him score his 60th by intentionally stepping into the lane before Kobe’s second free throw, just in case he missed it. Bryant had 59 points before that free throw.

Hayward who is a respectable defender in the league if not one of the best, had a bad night in which he had to guard the myth, Kobe Bryant. Questioning his and Utah Jazz’s intention, in a close game that ended 96-101, of letting Kobe have his way was absurd. This rumor was started when Mike Tirico recalled Kobe’s final game, and on an episode of the Ryen Russillo podcast.

The Houston Rockets finished just 1 game above the Jazz after their loss to the Lakers and qualified for the Playoffs. Why would Hayward do that on purpose when the game was at 96-97? The poor guy even answered these speculations after Bryant’s passing.

Also read: “I’d take Kobe Bryant over LeBron James”: When Kevin Durant made his pick between the two Lakers icons

Nothing that night was intentional in order to give the legend his proper farewell, other than Kobe’s will to deliver the best even on his final day. He called it a day by famously saying “Mamba out”.