{"id":10539,"date":"2020-12-05T09:08:51","date_gmt":"2020-12-05T15:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/?p=10539"},"modified":"2024-01-27T16:19:02","modified_gmt":"2024-01-27T22:19:02","slug":"kobe-bryants-last-road-game-i-was-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/kobe-bryants-last-road-game-i-was-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Kobe Bryant&#8217;s Last Road Game: I Was THERE!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_17571\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17571\" style=\"width: 1080px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17571 size-full lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game.jpg\" alt=\"Kobe Bryant Last Road Game Collage\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17571 size-full lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game.jpg\" alt=\"Kobe Bryant Last Road Game Collage\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/kobe-bryant-last-road-game-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-17571\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kobe Bryant Last Road Game Collage<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Circle of Life: NBA stars like Kobe emerge, reign, then fade to black<\/p>\n<p>As the end of the NBA season nears, we tend look ahead to things to come like free agency (i.e. Kevin Durant Sweepstakes), the draft and this latest twist in L.A.K.B. (Life After Kobe Bryant).<\/p>\n<p>But instead, I\u2019d like to reflect on the journey of how the Oklahoma City Thunder gained this basketball junkie\u2019s allegiance as well as the ultimate experience of seeing legends in one epic setting.<span id=\"more-3970\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>My Thunder fandom began well before the inaugural season of 2008, but let me back up and set\u00a0the mood and scene for you, like\u00a0the gentleman that I am.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>RELATED &#8211; Kevin Durant Return To OKC: \u201cBad Blood&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Growing up a typical Michael Jordan fan as a kid of my generation, I shed tears and endured a state of denial after his Airness\u2019s first retirement and found myself team-less.<\/p>\n<h2>I turned to the most exciting duo of the 90\u2019s in Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton of the Seattle Supersonics, who much like the Thunder of today\u2019s NBA against the 73-9 Warriors of 2016, came so close to dethroning an all-time great team in the 72-10 Chicago Bulls of 1996.<\/h2>\n<p>You may think I enjoy suffering and must be a Cubs fan as well but <em>no<\/em>; I\u2019m a fair weather Royals fan in KC where I reside and life is good.<\/p>\n<p>Seattle eventually went into full rebuild mode and drafted a young kid out of Texas you may have heard of \u2014 named Kevin Durant \u2014 while Seattle and the rest of Sonic nation is history.<\/p>\n<p>The OKC Thunder were born a year later\u00a0while taking a Grande Mocha-Durant to go from then barista, David Stern.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, I claim to be the first Thunder fan and recall the growing pains of their first year only witnessed on NBA League Pass.<\/p>\n<p>Did you know PJ Carlesimo (remember when Latrell Sprewell choked him?) was their first coach?\u00a0 That\u2019s what I thought.<\/p>\n<p>Having seen GM Sam Presti\u00a0build this Thunder team from the embryo stage to the second highest winning percentage NBA team in the last five years (68 percent) second only to\u00a0our father figure in the San Antonio Spurs (74 percent), who much like Freddy or Jason of horror movies just won\u2019t seem to die,\u00a0has been impressive and a wild ride.<\/p>\n<h2>Transitioning now from the Kemp and Payton era to the Durant and Westbrook era, I had yet to see either duo in person.<\/h2>\n<p>Until I circled a game that I believed was so significant for my generation (having seen Jordan and Pippen in \u201996, Malone and Stockton, Garnett and Marbury and Iverson all in \u201998, Carmelo vs. Duncan in \u201904) even though adult life had taken over.<\/p>\n<h2>But even adulthood couldn\u2019t stop the kid in me wanting to see my OKC Thunder take on Kobe Bryant during his last road game in his NBA career. The stage was set.<\/h2>\n<p>Arriving to Bricktown in downtown Oklahoma City was fantastic!\u00a0 Laker fans infiltrated the scene wearing their purple and gold and even some retro Lower Marion HS Kobe jerseys.<\/p>\n<p>Records didn\u2019t matter at this point of the season, just team pride and the mutual respect of the superstars in Kobe Bryant\u00a0with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook seemed to resonate amongst the fans as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>RELATED &#8211; Best NBA Players Ever: Michael Jordan #1, Who Is #2?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Outside Chesapeake Energy Arena you can\u2019t help but see the monumental figures of the Thunder players assembled like Mount Rushmore.<\/p>\n<p>While entering the arena I was reliving moments I\u2019d only seen on television; pushing the eventual champion Lakers to six games in 2010 as an eight seed, the 2012 Finals run and so many other highlights &#8212; I couldn\u2019t believe I was here.<\/p>\n<p>I felt at home. I quickly began recognizing Thunder beat writers, reporters and players as I was two sections across the Thunder bench.<\/p>\n<p>This was just the beginning though, the best was yet to come.<\/p>\n<p>First came the Thunder intros and the well-known dancing ending with\u00a0cheering for\u00a0KD. Next, having seen all the Kobe tributes all year I knew it was going to be special.<\/p>\n<h2>Your standard monotone introduction of opposing players began, then the lights dimmed for the video presentation and appreciation of Kobe\u2019s legacy followed by a roaring ovation. Well done Thunder.<\/h2>\n<p>Prior to tip-off,\u00a0Durant shares a manly embrace with Kobe.<\/p>\n<p>The game itself wasn\u2019t exactly competitive \u2014 112-79 after the final buzzer \u2014 but some fun facts were, Russell Westbrook had his 18th triple-double of the season by halftime.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Durant passed Kobe on the consecutive 20+ points scored streak with 34 points.<\/p>\n<p>Kobe\u2019s shoulder and pretty much his upper body were mummified for the fourth quarter, despite the crowd chanting for Kobe to return to the shellacking.<\/p>\n<h2>A vintage Kobe <em>did<\/em>\u00a0start off scoring\u00a0all of his 13 points in the first quarter battling and trash talking with Kevin Durant.<\/h2>\n<p>At the end, Durant and Westbrook met Kobe at the scorers table showing their appreciation for what Kobe has done for the\u00a0league and their own progression in their careers.<\/p>\n<p>What sums up Kobe\u2019s farewell in OKC and the love for the game as well as each other amongst these superstars\u00a0came from Durant after the game in\u00a0<em>\u201cI wanted to destroy Kobe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cI remember when Michael Jordan was on his way out and Kobe didn\u2019t take it easy on him,\u201d Durant said.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThat\u2019s all I was thinking.\u00a0 I was trying to destroy him every chance I got.\u00a0 Every time I got the ball, he was \u2018Come on.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see what you got.\u2019\u00a0 That shows what type of player, what type of competitor he is.\u00a0 I just wanted to play against him one\u00a0last time.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s a mutual respect among men, superstars and gladiators\u2026<em>THAT<\/em>\u00a0is legendary.<\/p>\n<h3>Related First-Person Sports Articles:<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"yrsZCSC6aF\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/afc-championship-patriots-vs-chiefs-tailgating-experience\/\">2018 AFC Championship Patriots vs. Chiefs &#8211; Beating Up The Bully A Tailgating Experience<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content lazyload\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;2018 AFC Championship Patriots vs. Chiefs &#8211; Beating Up The Bully A Tailgating Experience&#8221; &#8212; I-80 Sports Blog\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i80sportsblog.com\/afc-championship-patriots-vs-chiefs-tailgating-experience\/embed\/#?secret=RIQ8urjM31#?secret=yrsZCSC6aF\" data-secret=\"yrsZCSC6aF\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Circle of Life: NBA stars like Kobe emerge, reign, then fade to black As the end of the NBA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":17571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1919],"tags":[1691,587,422,782,133],"class_list":["post-10539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-kevin-durant","tag-kobe-bryant","tag-lakers","tag-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kobe Bryant&#039;s Last Road Game: I Was THERE! - I-80 Sports Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A vintage Kobe Bryant started his last road game by scoring\u00a013 points in the first quarter, battling and trash talking with Kevin Durant.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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