Kobe Bryant’s 5 greatest moments vs the Washington Wizards

Kobe Bryant destroys Ben Wallace

October 22, 1997

It’s 1997. Preseason basketball. The Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards are facing off in a UNLV gym. As second-year players, neither Kobe Bryant nor Ben Wallace has yet blossomed into the stars they will ultimately become. And so they were both on the floor during this preseason game.

And thank god, because it gave us one of the greatest dunks of Kobe Bryant’s career. Definitely, the best he ever pulled off against the Wizards.

Given what Ben Wallace ultimately became during his NBA career — one of the greatest shot blockers and most feared rim protectors of all time — it seems almost blasphemous to mention him getting dunked on. But then again, it seems blasphemous that either of these guys would be in a preseason game, to begin with.

But Kobe, even as a 19-year-old in a preseason game, was ready to show off that killer instinct he would ultimately be known for. It’s a wonder Wallace survived after this dunk.

But he did. According to Wallace, it’s that dunk that helped him become the ultimate enforcer he would blossom into.

And one might say that even though he got dunked on, Wallace got the last laugh as his Detroit Pistons would eventually sink the Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal Lakers. Of course, Wallace’s All-NBA days came long after he left Washington.