Lakers Couldn't Honor Kobe with a Win, So They Just Settled with Posterizing Durant. Thrice.

The Lakers has just retired Kobe’s jersey numbers – 8 and 24 – in a touching ceremony during the halftime of the Lakers’ game against the Warriors.  It was a star-studded affair, and it was powerful to see all those retired NBA players, legends, and former Lakers personnel present to honor Kobe.  The visiting Warriors even asked to remain on the floor in order to witness the event.

I won’t be writing a tribute for Kobe to commemorate the event.  I’ve already written tons of Kobe stuff in this blog through the years.  Rather, I want to point out some things that happened during the actual game itself.

Well, unfortunately, despite the solid performances from the young stars aspiring to carry Kobe’s torch (Brandon Ingram had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists; Lonzo Ball had 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists; Kyle Kuzma had a team-high 25 points off the bench; and Julius Randle also came off the bench to contribute 15 points and 11 rebounds) and the terrific defense that disrupted the Warriors’ superstars (Klay Thompson shot 25%, while Kevin Durant shot 34%, though he still was able to drop 36 points), the Lakers weren’t able to earn a win.  Just like the last matchup between the two teams this season, the game went to overtime and it was a close fight, but the Lakers lost.  Lakers are now 10-18.

It’s exasperating.  But, though they weren’t able to honor Kobe by winning against the defending champs, some of them were able to pay tribute in some other way – by posterizing Kevin Durant (this is by no means a small feat, as KD has become one of the league’s most elite shot-blockers after joining the Warriors last season).

First was Julius Randle:

BOOM!

Jordan Clarkson didn’t play at his usual standard.  He only shot 2-7.  But two of his four points came out of this play:

Omri Casspi was just a bonus.

But the best (i.e. the nastiest) came last, courtesy of Larry Nance, Jr.:

Total annihilation!
(Not as epic as the number he did on Brook Lopez last season though.)

I’m still bummed of the loss, but I’ll take these as consolations.

Meanwhile, for his tribute, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – the player that currently occupies the starting SG position for the Lakers, Kobe’s spot during most of his career – decided to chuck 17 shots and only made four of them.  He was likely channeling 2015-2016 Kobe.