Gone, but never forgotten. Kobe Bryant had plenty of memorable moments against the Washington Wizards. Here are his five best.
For 20 seasons, Kobe Bryant was the Washington Wizards’ enemy. The purple and gold powerhouse who, no matter who you surrounded him with, could will his team to a victory.
And the Washington Wizards, despite being in a different conference than the Los Angeles Lakers, were far too familiar with that. It wasn’t as if the Wizards had all-star squad after all-star squad during Kobe’s reign over the NBA, but it seemed that no matter who they had — or more importantly, who Kobe had — he could always get it done.
Who can forget the time in 2005 when, starting alongside Lamar Odom, Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, and Brian Cook, Kobe dropped 41 points on 24 shots as the Lakers beat the Wizards 97-91? For Kobe, that was just another day at the office.
Most players, even great players, are lucky to have five memorable moments in their careers. But Kobe Bryant was not most players. He scored 40 points vs. every single opposing team in the NBA. For Kobe, there is no shortage of memorable moments. And he certainly has a few worth remembering from his games against the Wizards.
Kobe finished his career 21-11 against the Washington Wizards. He scored in double-figures 30 times. He scored at least 20 points 24 times. 30 points, 11 times. And he had three games of 40 or more points. Plus, he had three triple-doubles and countless highlights.
After a couple of decades of respecting Kobe as a competitor and despising him as an opponent, let’s look back at some of the Black Mamba’s greatest moments vs. the Wizards with nothing but thankful appreciation for what a legend gave us. Everything.
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.
Kobe duels Allen Iverson during All-Star Game in D.C.
February 11, 2001
Technically, this one wasn’t against the Wizards, but it did happen on their home floor so close enough.
Kobe Bryant was riding high entering the 2001 All-Star game in Washington, D.C. The Los Angeles Lakers were fresh off their first NBA championship of the Kobe/Shaq era and entered the All-Star break with an impressive 34-18 record. At the time, Bryant was the NBA’s leading scorer.
In the first and only All-Star game held in the nation’s capital, Bryant did not disappoint. He led the Western Conference All-Stars in scoring with 19 points. Only Allen Iverson had more points than Kobe that night.
Iverson’s 25 points were good enough to earn his the All-Star game MVP award and good enough to help the Eastern Conference escape D.C. with a one-point win.
In very un-Kobe fashion, Bryant passed up the game’s final shot, instead, passing to Tim Duncan. In Bryant’s defense, that’s not a bad guy to have taking your final shot in a one-point game. But Duncan missed, and the Western Conference lost.
Even though Iverson may have outdueled Bryant in D.C., Kobe would get his revenge in the NBA Finals. He and Shaquille O’Neal took down Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in five games to win the Lakers their second consecutive NBA championship.
The next year, Kobe would make sure no one outshined him at the All-Star game. He dropped a game-high 31 points, along with five rebounds and five assists during the 2002 showcase in his hometown. All of that got him the 2002 All-Star Game MVP award and a shower of boos from the Philadelphia faithful.
Kobe dops 55 in final game vs. Michael Jordan
March 28, 2003
It’s no secret that Kobe Bryant emulated Michael Jordan. And in the final matchup between two of the greatest champions and competitors in NBA history, Kobe made sure to leave his mark on his mentor.
Towards the end of the 2002-03 season, the Lakers hosted Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards for the final meeting between two of the greatest shooting guards the world has ever seen. On that night, Kobe made sure he was the greater one, despite a 23 point performance from a 40-year-old MJ.
From the very start of the game, Bryant was in a zone that few players can even dream of, let alone reach. In what felt like an official passing of the torch in Jordan’s final season, Bryant burst out of the gates, bombarding the Wizards with a barrage of offensive attacks on his way to 42 first-half points. Bryant finished the game with 55, the most he would ever score against Washington during his 20-year career.
At that point in his career, Kobe already had three rings. And with him and Shaq still together, it looked like his chances of building a bigger jewelry collection than his idol were still pretty good. Of course, the Kobe/Shaq relationship eventually crumbled, but Kobe would still go on to tie Jordan in terms of rings.
If you’re going to emulate anybody, emulate Jordan. But once you drop 55 on him and match him in rings, you’ve built an unrivaled legacy all of your own.
Gilbert Arenas outduels Kobe Bryant in Staples Center
December 17, 2006
There was a time in NBA history when the debate over the NBA’s best scoring guard was between either Gilbert Arenas or Kobe Bryant. It was a brief (but glorious) moment in NBA history, but it was real.
And at the height of Hibachi madness, Arenas challenged Bryant’s mid-2000s scoring crown with an epic 60-point performance during an overtime duel in Kobe’s house. Bryant was no slouch in this one either, finishing with his second-highest scoring total ever against Washington: 45 points.
Bryant shot an insane 7-for-11 from beyond the arc and shot 62.5 percent from the floor in the loss. It was a scoring clinic from one of the NBA’s greatest scorers ever. On that night, though, Hibachi was just better.
Bryant also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out ten assists in the loss. Arenas added eight rebounds, eight assists, and two steals to round out his superb stat line.
For both players, this matchup was an early sign of things to come. Arenas was coming off his first All-Star season and was a couple dozen games into what would become the greatest season of his career. Kobe was embarking on his second-consecutive scoring title run, and would go on to average over 30 points per game for the second season in a row. Bryant and Arenas were both named to the All-NBA teams that season.
Neither the Lakers nor the Wizards would make it past the first round of the playoffs that season, but Bryant and Arenas set the NBA on fire by trading jaw-dropping scoring performances from across the country. This duel had two of the season’s best at their peak.
Kobe pulls out vintage performance in final trip to Washington
December 2, 2015
The Kobe Bryant farewell tour was something unlike anything we’ve seen. And given the new era of free agency, we may never see it again. Nearly every stop on the road the Lakers made during the 2015-16 season was something special. And Kobe’s final stop in Washington, D.C., was no different.
Unlike so many legends that once dominated the game, Kobe was far from a shell of his former self during that final season. No, he wasn’t showing off 2001 Finals levels of athleticism, or shades of his 2008 MVP-self. But he could still score with the league’s best and pull out a vintage performance every now and then.
On that December night in D.C., Kobe went deep into the bag of tricks to pull out a Lakers win in his final visit to Washington. Heading into the final quarter, the Wizards trailed the Lakers by just three points. As John Wall and company threatened to spoil Kobe’s farewell to Washington, the Wizards fans (and many, many Lakers fans) in attendance got a first-hand glimpse of the Mamba Mentality.
With the game on the line, Kobe scored 12 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter, nailing clutch shot after clutch shot, and willing his Lakers to a victory. By the end of the game, “KO-BE!” chants filled the Verizon Center. And rightfully so.
The Lakers won, 108-104.
The Wizards, like so many other teams around the NBA, were often on the losing end when facing off against the Black Mamba. Even when Kobe didn’t get the best of the Wizards, he often made it memorable. For years, Wizards fans watched the virtuoso scorer, cursing under their breath and pleading for someone, anyone, to stop the man we all knew was going to shoot it.
There will never be another Kobe Bryant for as long as human beings (or any beings!) play basketball. And with that in mind, these highlights vs. the Wizards feel a little different these days. And I’m guessing they’ll feel that way forever.
Mamba Out.