I was informed today that it is the 9-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant dropping 81 points on the Toronto Raptors.
Many thanks to Avry, (@Avry on Twitter) whose video served as the reminder:
So, January 22nd, 2006 is the day that the Raptors roll-lol-lol-lol-lol-ed into Los Angeles and Kobe promptly rolled them back up and kicked em out. The Raptors that year were absolutely abysmal, posting a 1-15 record in November, and limped into the Staples Center with a 14-26 record that fateful day.
Things looked good for the Raptors early, they were actually up 63-49 on LA before Kobe took a stranglehold on the game. Talk about going off, #8 put up 28 points in the 3rd quarter and followed it up with 27 more in 4th for 55 points in the 2nd half alone. Tack that on to an already respectable 26-point 1st half, and you get the famous 81. The Lakers ended up winning the contest 122-104, but in the end did it really matter? The basketball world had come as close to seeing Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point record being broken as perhaps humanly possible.
I distinctly remember going to school the next day and the usually hockey-obsessed classroom could only talk about Kobe Bryant. 81 points! On the Raptors! I knew we stunk, but WOW! INCREDIBLE! I’m not sure how long the chatter lasted though. Probably one gym class of b-ball and a week of hype, then back to hoping the Leafs would pull through post-lockout, and vault themselves into the playoffs.
Now I’m not a big basketball guy, I’ll cheer for the Raptors, I’ll fill out my March Madness bracket, but I don’t follow the NBA or NCAA anywhere near as religiously as the NHL, or as closely as the NFL & MLB. But for me, this historic night still ranks up there as a big sports moment, not for the night itself, but for what happened after. You see that abysmal season for the Raptors was bad enough to land the first overall pick in the 06 NBA Entry Draft, with which, we all know the Raptors selected Italian national Andrea Bargnani. Bargnani joined the Raptors to much acclaim, and from the bottom of the league in 05-06, Andrea was a key piece in leading the team to the Atlantic Division title in 06-07. Also, as a kid with strong ties to his Italian heritage, it was pretty cool to see someone come over from Italy. And so it is from here that the story gets memorable for me.
The acclaim for Bargnani at the time was not limited to his play on the court. Being the first ever European #1 overall pick, Bargnani’s presence grabbed headlines across the country and worldwide, especially in his native Italy. On top of Bargnani, Toronto boasted a bevvy of international players, including Jose Calderon and Jorge Garbajosa of Spain, Rasho Nesterovic, the Slovenian with strong ties to Greece, and Pape Sow, who hailed from Senegal. The diversity of the Raptors was so impressive, they actually were a top story in an issue of Sports Illustrated for Kids, a big deal for a kid like me, because you almost never saw anything Canadian in that magazine. Of course, there wasn’t much about that article that was Canadian, considering.
So where is this headed? You have Kobe Bryant scoring a Phil Kessel worth of points, and a hyped, but eventually underwhelming Italian 1st overall pick, how does it all tie together? Well, it all comes down in a Foot Locker, in a mall about an hour north of Toronto. I was there shopping, dragged along by my parents no doubt, and having tried on a pair of shoes I probably ended up owning against my will (mom has different taste in clothing than I do), I meandered over to the back wall, and stared at the bright red Raps jerseys. As I began to scan through them in hopes of maybe finding a Bargnani, a voice said “excuse me?” in a familiar kind of broken English.
I looked up to see a man in about his mid 20’s, holding the hand of who I assume was his girlfriend, a tanned lady of about the same age as he. “Can you help me?” he asked through a hefty Italian language barrier. Despite the vast language gap, he manged to communicate to me that they were in Toronto from Rome to see the Raptors play, and that they wanted jerseys to wear to the game. I, in turn, communicated to him that I spoke a little Italian myself, so I could indeed help him, and it was okay that his English wasn’t entirely up to par. With a grin on his face, and an approving nod from his girlfriend, I helped him pick out a Bargnani jersey for her, as well as Bosh jersey, and a Bargnani for himself.
Pleased to have found someone who could help out with as little awkwardness as possible, the man, jerseys in hand, turned to thank me, before stopping mid-sentence. His girlfriend had tapped him on the shoulder, and muttered something I couldn’t make out. He turned back to me and asked if I could help him find one more jersey. He struggled to explain which player he wanted. He managed right away to say he didn’t play for the Raptors, which put me into uncharted waters a bit. He said he scored a lot of points last year, and was a “strong player” on his team, a point he drove home by flexing his jersey-filled arms in front me. Silly as it may be, that was enough info for me to think I had the answer. Strong and a lot of points? Could only be one guy, considering what happened last season. “Los Angeles?” I asked him. “Yes! Los Angeles, strong!” he replied with another flex. I pointed him to the purple and gold of the Lakers, and told him Kobe Bryant was who he was looking for. We chatted a little more about Kobe and his 81 point night, mostly in short sentences, some one-word, like “wow” and “amazing.” Content with his haul, the man thanked me with a smile, and said “Go Raptors!” in his broken English, before heading off to the register with his lady.
So there you have it. The long winding road brings us here. Thanks to that Italian gentleman in the mall with his broken English and silly posing, the near record breaking night that occurred now 9 years ago, is a permanent fixture in my sport memory banks, and is irrevocably linked to Andrea Bargnani, and the drawing power he carried by simply being on the team.
It is a ridiculous story. Its chain of events are related tangentially at best, and the highlight is not the near-record breaking game, but an exchange in an apparel shop nearly a year later. I may occasionally forget that the Raptors indeed won the division in 2006-07, I may forget who exactly made up the United Nations of Basketball and I will likely never remember that Mike James led the Raptors in points with 26 on January 22nd, 2006. But I will always remember the 81, and from it, I will remember Andrea Bargnani on the Raptors, and that 20-something Italian gentleman flexing, and asking me the name of the “strong” player on Los Angeles who scored a lot of points against the Raptors last year.
Frank on Sports 