What’s the Best Performance You’ve Ever Seen In-Person?
Kobe Bryant, Dime #8I was never a huge fan of Kobe Bryant, and the ship sailed almost entirely after he became the reason why I had to explain to my young, Kobe-jersey-wearing cousin what the terms “sexual assault” and “adultery” meant.
Then in April 2005, when the Lakers were on their way to finishing well under .500 with Rudy T on the bench and the Caron Butler/Lamar Odom tandem serving as the replacements for Shaq, the team came to KeyArena for a game against the playoff-bound Sonics. This was my first time seeing Kobe play in-person, and while the rest of the Sonics fans (who booed Kobe every time he touched the ball) left the building that night cussing his name, I was calling my friends, gushing about the talent I’d just seen.
Kobe ended up with 42 points, but it wasn’t just the scoring that got me. Watching live, you could see just how well he knows the game, knows the angles, stuff that won’t always come across on TV. His playmaking ability alone — whether he was getting an assist himself or making the pass that set up someone else’s assist –would have led the Lakers to a win (Caron had 30-plus that night), but when Kobe started really scoring in the second half, it was just a slaughter. Right before halftime, when my other little cousin was itching to get an early start on the food lines, I was literally holding him in place to make him watch the Lakers’ last possession. With Ray Allen draped all over Kobe around midcourt, I knew he was going to score. A couple of dribbles and pump-fakes later, Kobe banked in a three from about 35 feet out with Ray still all over him. And no one was surprised he’d done it. While I still wouldn’t advise my cousins to use Kobe as a personal-life role model, I told them after that game that if they wanted to be great basketball players, #8 was the guy to watch.
I was in MSG when Jamal Crawford gave D-Wade and James Posey 52 points and the Garden crowd was standing up every time he got the ball in the second half. I was there when Dwight Howard posted a 20-20 line, and I saw Chris Paul take over a game in the fourth quarter, scoring and racking up assists at will. But that Kobe game in Seattle is still the best I’ve ever seen live.
What is the best individual performance you’ve ever seen in-person?
July 28th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
tealish says:
Sadly I live in Vancouver and the best game I ever saw was… an average 20-10 game by CWebb (SAC) against my basement-dwelling Grizz? I guess Bibby played well too…
July 28th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Tical says:
Best game I ever saw live, this was back in ‘01 or ‘02.
The Celtics were facing LA, @ Staples Center. Paul Pierce just destroyed the Lakers to the tune of about 40+ (Lake show pulled it out as I mean, Kobe/Shaq days were up and running) but everyone in the crowd new Pierce was torching them and we knew it was going in whenever he touched the rock.
Runner up:
Amare vs. Raptors – Jan 07
30+ 10+ and numerous dunks that sent ooohs and aaahs throughout the ACC
July 28th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
miamiVIS3 says:
I already said it in the D-Wade mag contest that game in 05-06 when D-Wade pulled that 4th quarter comeback against the Pistons all by himself.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Martin says:
Living in Sweden I’m not exactly used to seeing good basketball live. But seizing the opportunity to see some real NBA talent, I went to the Eurobasket 2003 in Stockholm for the matchup between Spain and Israel.
Back then, of course, I wasn’t familiar with Calderon or Garbajosa that eventually wound up on my Raps, so I was keeping an eye out for Gasol. I had of course seen photos of him, and couldn’t exactly recognize him among the players during the warmup – until this giant came out of the locker room, that is.
I expected him to be a bit bigger than the rest, but suddenly everyone else looked like teenagers trying to ball… Gasol coasted along for an easy 25-30 pts, and I went home with a smile from ear to ear…
July 28th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Cavman says:
Great post…too bad Van city doesnt have a team. Best player i saw, was steve nash..his passing angles were crazy, the control of the ball and game were great..But the best part was how hard everyone else was playing, it just seemed that the team knew if they played hard, he would get them involed in the game…not enough of that in the game today..Not the best player ever, but the best i saw.
Burton…great article…laughed at the truth of the explanation of Kobe…been there too.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
ERIC says:
I’ve seen AI score 50pts on two separate occasions. It is remarkable to see what he does in person, especially when you realize he is only 6′0”. Then you can appreciate really skills at his size, his speed, fearlessness and ability to get shots off in a variety of ways.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Justice says:
i saw eddie house put up an easy 50, in the garden when he was playing for arizona state, and jeremy veal had a monster game too..the reason it was unreal was the difficulty of the shots house was taking, dude was hitting from everywhere i doubt if he took more than 20 shots..it was crazy, paul pierce played in the game after for kansas and put up numbers too..
July 28th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Ashlov says:
I’ve seen two great performances live:
I saw Glen Rice light up the Magic for 56 points. He was giving buckets to everyone, including Shaq. Rice was an amazing shooter, and that night, he went apeshit.
Also, I’m proud to say that I witnessed one of the most unexpected Heat victories ever. When the Heat traded for Tim Hardaway, Chris Gatling, Walt Williams, Tyrone Corbin and Tony Smith, only Smith was available for the Heat to play the eventual 72-10 Chicago Bulls.
With an extremely undermanned squad, Rex Chapman went absolutely insane on Michael Jordan, hitting 9-10 3’s for 39 points. He even talked shit to Jordan, was wonderful to watch live. The crowd was frothing at the mouth. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, this was the Heat’s roster that night:
Keith Askins
Rex Chapman
Alonzo Mourning
Tony Smith
Voshon Lenard
Kurt Thomas
Jeff Malone
Danny Schayes (yes, Danny Schayes)
That’s it. That was responsible for handing the 95-96 Bulls one of their ten losses. Astounding.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
dagwaller says:
I saw Joel Przybilla get like 20 rebounds one time. But it was against Etan Thomas/Brendan Haywood, so although I’d normally have been calling my friends to tell them all about seeing “the Prz” in person, it didn’t impress me all that much.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
pimpdaddy says:
I was lucky enough to be in the stands when god, oops, I mean michael jordan, scored 51 points against the hornets. this was his highest scoring game of his wizards career. it was totally amazing to watch him dominate the entire game on nothing but jumpers, fade-aways, bank-shots, and layups (he didn’t dunk once the entire game). the nite before, he tallied just 6 points against the pacers (his lowest scoring total during his wizards career, and probably the lowest output in his entire professional career). my two friends & I had almost went to the pacers game instead, but a scheduling conflict sent us to the wizards game instead…MJ had 23 or 24 in the first quarter and was talkin’ trash the entire game. late in the 4th quarter with the game pretty much decided, jordan had 49 points..coach doug collins sent someone to the scorers table to sub mike out..mike waved his sub back to the bench..on the next offensive possession, he got the ball, faced up stacey augmon, and hit a jumper in his eye, scoring his 50th & 51st points..then immediately waved to the bench to tell coach collins to sub for him now…jordan was dead set on scoring 50+ to make up for the lowly 6 point performance from the night before..he was making sure he silenced all the critics who were saying he should have never ”un-retired”…that, my fellow dimers, is the greatest live performance that I have ever watched, and definitely one moment I will be telling my kids & granchildren about for years to come….MJ IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Benjamin says:
I am from Sweden(just as one of the guys before)and i also went to se the eurobasket 2003. The match i watched was between Spain and Serbia. I remember that Gasol,Garbajosa,Calderon,Stojakovic,jaric and drobnjak played. I was 11 back then so this was the first “real” basketball game ive gone to.. The game was great..suddenly after one quarter the serbian crowd transformed to one single serbian flag and the only thing you heard was chearing and drums. Spain won and GAsol dunked,,,twice or someting like that.. That made my day..
July 28th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Kevin says:
Saw Vince drop 51 on Phoenix, crazy performance!
July 28th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Andrew Katz says:
I gotta say that Chris Douglas-Roberts giving Stanley Robinson the hot plate at the Coaches vs. Cancer classic at MSG this year (33 points) was right up there.
Unfortunately I wasn’t there for this, but I watched Gilbert take the Lakers by the balls in ‘06-07 for 60 live on TV. He was pimping every shot that he made like when Manny Ramirez hits a home run. Walking away before shots fell – just ridiculous.
When Gil is hot, he’s soo much fun to watch. It’s like he could throw the ball backwards over his head and know its gonna fall.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Smooth says:
i watched Jamal Crawford score 52 points vs Heat he went on some crazy run & hit 16 shots in a row without a miss the last guy 2 do that was shaq & that was back in the mid 90’s, the crowd was so hyped up everytime he got the ball it was a great show
July 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
doug says:
By far the most amazing game I’ve ever witnessed in person is Kobe’s 81 points against Toronto.I’ve played basketball my whole life and I’ve never seen a guy forge his will on an entire team. It was Kobe that beat the whole Toronto team. The crazy thing about it was that the people sitting next to me through down there ticket stubs in anger and left at half time because the Lakers were down to Toronto at that point. Then Kobe went Kobe in the second half dropping 55 points,splitting double and tripple teams and the like and the Lakers came out with the victory. I lost my voice that night from yelling so much.But the best part was watching people that were in staples including janitors, wrestle other fans for ticket stubs people had left behind during half time as everyone want to get there piece of history. I still have mine and I’m waiting to meet him so I can get it autographed. By far and away the best single game performance I’ve ever witnessed in person or seen on TV.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
shake&bake says:
Stephen Curry in Detroit against Wisconsin. He had 3 out of the 4 schools’ fans cheering for him, plus he even go LeBron up on his feet in the crowd a couple times. That kid was unreal this March.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Austin Burton says:
Katz — Funny, the first time I got to see Arenas live, he was TERRIBLE. I forgot the numbers, but it was something like 3-for-17 or so in the Garden. The Wizards team set a record for most three-point attempts without a make. You knew Arenas was great, just none of his shots were going down.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
ticktock6 says:
Chris Paul with 37-13 against the Bulls on St. Patrick’s Day, over half those points in the 4th quarter. It was like he woke up during a timeout and said, “Huh. I think I’ll take over this game now.” 15-21 shooting, and it was like everything he touched was gold.
He had similar games, particularly in the playoffs, but it was the total 4th quarter takeover that makes that one stand out in my mind.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Big Freeze says:
I watched Tim Tebow single-handedly destroy the FSU Seminoles last season in The Swamp. He was unstoppable, scoring 5 total touchdowns and making the FSU organization that was once a national powerhouse look like a bunch of pussies in tights. Way to go Tebow!
Sadly I didn’t go to any Gators basketball games last year, even though the student tickets are free, but Speights is gonna impress some people in the NBA next season, especially with Brand taking him under his wing.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
the mamba says:
Was this the game kobe hit like 10 3’s and rattled off like 6 or 7 in a row? I was hoping dime would reminise on that game.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Big V says:
Jamal giving D-Wade the business was crazy. Not as great of an individual performance, but the Knicks over the Suns in 3OT at MSG was pretty sick too.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Celts Fan says:
Definitely don’t want to sound like a homer, but Game 7, Pierce vs. LeBron. Two stars battling it out for who would go on. 40+ for both. You couldn’t ask for anything more in the regular season, much less a game 7…
another one, and I hate to say this, but Vince back in his rookie year. He dropped like 30 on us including a few vicious crams, then dropped a buzzer beating 3 for the W. I’ve seen more points, but from a “rookie living up to the hype and delivering” point of view, this one’s tough to top.
I also remember AI running all over us back in the early 00’s, giving us buckets at will and just crushing spirits all day long. I think he finished with 45 points, 5 or 6 dimes, and 4 Celtics who tried to check him that were embarrassed on Sportscenter that night. It was like an And 1 video, only on pros…
lastly, I once saw Vin Baker play in a game where he wasn’t drunk.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
I saw Casey Jacobsen hit like 9 3s and drop 38 vs BYU. It doesnt seem like a great moment now…but at the time I was amazed.
The full offensive arsenal on display.
Little did i know he had JJ Redicks disease (great in college, sucks in the pros)
July 28th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Austin Burton says:
@mamba — The game you’re thinking about was in L.A. I watched that game on TV.
@ticktock — I remember seeing that Hornets/Bulls game on TV and the Bulls announcers were just exasperated that their team couldn’t figure out a way to stop CP.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Bruce says:
MJ vs the Sacramento Kings……….When MJ wore that stupid Washington Jersey.
It was on Valentine Day. Catherine (GF at the time) made an ultimatum: dinner or MJ. I chose the latter. I only had one ticket!
For the love of the game, bitch!
July 28th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Sam I Am says:
I saw Kwame Brown LIVE here in Washington DC
The way he rode that bench…crazy awesome
July 28th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Clay says:
Damnnn…Can anybody remember the Lebron vs. Detroit game in last years playoff???
And could we please refrain from bringing up Gilbert Arenas name in any conversations about the best of anything…Unless we’re discussing shot attempts or Dime’s Biggest Losers discussions.
And Kobe has the best performance in the last 20 yrs. hands down….And I cannot stand him b/c of the reasons explained in the article also
July 28th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Sith Lord 24 says:
im from Va and my high school played JJ Reddick’s Team.. this guy had like 13 3’s on 15 attempts!!!!!and like a total of 45 pts on us. it was the greatest shooting preformance i have ever seen. he was pulling from 5 feet behind nba 3 in our jym and thats like 10 ft from the highschool 3 pt line. it was so crazy we started chearing form him to shoot it when he got it. 2 times he shot the ball from DEEP and just turned around and walked back on defense like 3 seconds b4 it went in while it was still in the air.
then like 2 weeks later i heard he was going to duke. i was telling people at college he was the best shooter in the nation PERIOD. then he goes to Duke and basically proves it. oh and i hate Duke.
July 28th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Luigi says:
The best performance ive ever seen Gm 6 of the 1st round in 05. Wiz vs Bulls. we were down by double digits in the 4th Q. then they did an amazing comeback by teamwork and confidence.
n also the Wiz vs NO game in 07. Gil had 2 4pt shots. we killed them n he had 50 pts
July 28th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
nick says:
2 games that stick out for me as seen live at the acc were vince and jalen rose going shot for shot pretty much. think vince had 40+ and jalen had over 35. crazy game with a very close finish.
The Donyell Marshall game where he hit the tied the record for 3pt shots made with 12 vs the sixers. dude was on fire and could not miss. I was sitting courtside that game and man it was impressive.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Mo says:
Austin Burton, yeah, Stacey King was besides himself in regards to what CP was doing to the Bulls. LMAO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAyCMAONmOU
July 28th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
D-NICE says:
Jamal Crawford shittin on the raptors in MSG and then shittin on them in the ACC
July 28th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Mikee says:
Shaq scores 61 on his birthday and its also the Lakers 16th win in a row. It was against the Clippers, but 61 is 61. Pretty impressive. I was in the nosebleeds, but it was still great to witness.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Yoooo says:
I saw Scottie Pippen give the Nets drugs waaaay back when. I was also at the game shack broke the basket…
AND it wasn’t in person but I was on the west coast (vegas) when Kobe put up 62 in 3 quarters and the 81 pt game. I never seen anything like that. Not even in a video game
July 28th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Thunder D says:
Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals 1998-1999 season.. KNicks Pacers, at the Garden…The KNicks win 90-82 in a close game til the end to clinch a spot in the FInals…I’ve never heard the garden that loud…Ever…it was truly unbelievable
July 28th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
doc says:
The best game i been to was a 1rst round playoff game when the Sixers went to the chip.We were playing the Pacers down 0-1 and Reggie Miller scored like 20 in the 1rst quarter.AI came out in the second heated and it was on.We got the win,AI had 50 something and Reggie Miller had 39.The game went down to the end and Corestates was jumping.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Jim says:
I think 02-03, regular season, Mavs won in SA in 3OT, Nash just killed the Spurs. Every time Duncan would score Nash would hit a bucket. If memory serves he tied it in reg, 1OT, 2OT and won it in 3OT. Pretty nuts. I guess his back hurt or something because apparently they spent his money on Dampier that summer…not that I’m complaining.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Edwin says:
doug
Man, I think you and I were at the best single game performance ever. I was 4th row center court, I got the tickets from my roomate’s girlfriend, who was just giving them away because nobody wanted to watch the Raptors play. I figured that we were on a 3 game losing streak and Kobe wouldn’t let us lose to the Raptors so a 50 spot was in order. At half time I look up and Kobe has a “quiet” 26 points, but we are still down by double digits. Then in the 3rd qtr, down 16, Kobe goes into “I am not losing this game” mode and just starts ABUSING Toronto. End of the 3rd I look up at his point total and it was already over 50. My brother and I look at each other with non-believing eyes and talk about how we might witness 70. The 4th quarter just kept it going. We would stand up to cheer as Kobe jumped to shoot, and when he got to 81… Just incredible. The second highest scoring output in NBA history. The highest to ever be caught on tape. And the Lakers didn’t need to foul the Raptors just to get the ball back.
Nothing is more impressive then Kobe Bryant when he is on fire. NOTHING!
July 29th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Meica says:
@ ticktock
that Bulls/Hornets game on St. Patrick’s Day still blows my mind. I though we had a great Bull victory on St. Pattie’s and then CP3 goes insane.
I have been a huge Chris Paul fan ever since.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:57 am
mp23 says:
best performance in person?
Amare vs. GS in 2005, back when he was rockin #32 and pre-microfracture surgery on his knee. basically, an uncaged animal.
dude gave jrich, dunleavy and boom dizzle 44 and 16 and posterized adonal foyle’s lifeless body like 3 different times. just a beastly performance that can’t be put into words.
it’s a damn shame that he decided not to play for the Redeem Team in Beijing. Booz should be thankful that he has a spot on that roster ‘cuz of STAT..
July 30th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
doug says:
HEY what’s up Edwin? Yeah we were in the Staple at the same time witnessing greatness when Kobe dropped 81 points on them and it seems like you got the tickets the
same way I got them. My boss pretty much gave them to me because no one wanted to go to this game. I’ve played basketball my whole life and i’ve never seen anything like this ever. That’s why I think Kobe is the GOAT.
August 2nd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Setup Man says:
AI drop 60 on the Magic…where is Steve Francis now??
May 12th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Pig says:
@26 Oh that’s just mean..:D