Gordon Hayward of the Charlotte Hornets was on the court as a member of the Utah Jazz in Kobe Bryant's final game with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he downplayed how well Bryant played in the game.
“I'm a big Kobe fan as well, so I don't want to put that last game down for you, but we learned right before game time that the game didn't matter,” Gordon Hayward said, According to Peter Dewey of Lakers Daily. “The game would have mattered for us making the playoffs, but we learned right before that the game didn't matter. Somebody else had won.”
Hayward did go on to credit Kobe Bryant for how he closed out the game, hitting clutch shots down the stretch for the Lakers.
“But I will say, we were up pretty handily most of the game,” Hayward said, according to Dewey. “Now, the last three minutes, he was special. The last three minutes was unreal. It was vintage Kobe.”
Bryant finished the game with 60 points on 22-of-50 shooting for the Lakers, helping them beat the Jazz 101-96 in the fame, as he found that extra gear in the clutch one final time.
Hayward is right that Bryant took a lot of shots, and it was a similar performance to what we saw from Bryant for much of that season, up until the final minutes.
Regardless, the final three minutes or so were magical to watch for Lakers fans, and NBA fans in general. It gave fans a moment to celebrate his incredible career.
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