Video: Kobe Returns, Puts Up Triple-Double In Win

After missing the last four games to rest his 36-year-old body, Kobe Bryant returned last night to help the Lakers defeat the Nuggets, 111-103. LA isn’t very good, and we’ve spent a lot of time analyzing how Kobe handles all the losing — particularly when the Lakers looked so good without him against the Warriors last week. Kobe added another wrinkle by posting a triple-double to help the Lakers win in his return to the court.

The video below shows Kobe launching three-pointers and hitting difficult turnarounds, like his triple-double should be about his 23 points and not the 11 rebounds and 11 assists he also put up. Like his ability to zoom a cross-court pass out of the post-up isn’t worth the zillionth clip of him gunning a three-pointer:

Or an acrobatic ball fake before the dish for the dime to help seal the game isn’t as important as another tricky jumper against a double-team:

Stepping away from our animus with the below video, it’s worth asking: why doesn’t Bryant do this all the time? One, it’s really hard to record a triple-double, and we’re guessing his week off helped with his energy. Two, sometimes LA’s best chance to win is for Kobe to attempt 30 shots, rather than the 6-for-11 performance from the field he had last night (3-of-5 from deep). Three, not all opponents are a Gallinari-less Nuggets team who had dropped three of their last four.

Mamba will always be at the forefront of some idiotic Internet argument and a less moronic debate at the bar — where, if you’ve never been, people exchange ideas in person.

To expect a triple-double from him every night is unrealistic, but Bean certainly has a way of holding our attention even with this thin Lakers team.

(GIFs via reddit)

What do you think?

Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.

Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.

×