On January 22, 2006, one of the greatest performances in NBA history took place. The late, great Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, setting the record for the second-most points in a single game after Wilt Chamberlain’s 1962 100-point mark. Chris Bosh was on that Raptors roster and remembers the phenomenal event well.
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Kobe Bryant’s performance as a whole is one of the great wonders in league history. Many players have since come close. Luka Doncic scored 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks in January of 2024, but no one has eclipsed the 80-point threshold. It isn’t the 81 points that are the most impressive to Chris Bosh but how much Bryant scored in the second half alone.
“A lot of people don’t know, but he scored 55 points in the second half,” Bosh said in an appearance on Club Shay Shay back in 2020. “They think it was 40-40. Nah, it was 55.”
Entering halftime, Bryant only had 26 points. Of course, that is a great half of basketball, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. The energy surrounding that Raptors team was high, considering they were up 63-49 at halftime. Bosh was okay with the team’s philosophy before he knew what would take place.
“Kobe could have 50, don’t matter as long as we win,” Bosh said. “I just remember, he came out, and it was like he couldn’t miss. It was that perfect storm of he’s hitting every three, he hit every shot and he shot a lot of free throws.”
Only one other player took more than 10 shots that game for the Lakers, and that was Smush Parker. Bryant connected on seven three-pointers, which was unheard of at that time. The Raptors also couldn’t keep him off the free-throw line as he went 18-20 from the charity stripe.
At the moment, Bosh was actively trying to weather the storm and put his team back in a position to win. But he found it extremely difficult not to become consumed with what was happening.
“I just remember running back and forth just like, ‘This can’t be real.’ You kinda get stuck in a dream. Can we stop this?” Bosh said.
In hindsight, the answer to that question was “no.” Bryant’s offensive frenzy led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-104 win over the Raptors. That performance holds tremendous significance as one of the many iconic moments in Bryant’s illustrious career.
Despite being on the receiving end of Bryant’s onslaught, Bosh appreciates the history he was able to be part of.
