Dallas Mavericks

With Kobe out vs. Mavs in final home matchup, relive his 62-point game

Published Jan. 26, 2016 10:33 p.m. ET

Jovan Buha

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant missed his final game against the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center because of his sore right shoulder, according to Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:

Bryant played 25 minutes against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, and has preferred to miss home games rather than road ones (where he's receiving a nightly farewell tour).

As unfair as that might sound for diehard Lakers fans spending their hard-earned money, one can only imagine the pain and frustration Bryant must be experiencing to sit out a game against Dallas -- one of his favorite teams to play against over the years.

Bryant's most notable Mavericks memory came a little over a decade ago, on Dec. 20, 2005, when the Lakers crushed the Mavericks, 112-90, at Staples Center. The final score wasn't significant, but the way a mediocre Lakers team was able to blow out the eventual Western Conference champions was.

The reason, of course, was Bryant, who single-handedly outscored the Mavericks with 62 points (18-of-31 shooting) through three quarters -- one more point than Dallas had as a team (61).

The Lakers were leading by a comfortable margin at that point, so Bryant sat out the final frame and will always be left wondering how many points he could have had (a few weeks later he dropped 81 on the Toronto Raptors, so he probably doesn't lose sleep over the Mavericks game anymore).

A couple days ago, Bryant revealed that he had a little bit of extra motivation to stick it to Dallas.

One of the Mavericks' assistant coaches, Del Harris, was Bryant's first NBA coach for a little over two years (he was fired 12 games into the 1998-99 lockout-shortened season), and Bryant hated him for not playing him more, according to the Los Angeles Daily News:

“When I was a rookie, I hated Del,” Bryant said. “I always said if I get a chance to get revenge, I’m going to get it.”

In typical Kobe fashion, Bryant felt obligated to embarrass Harris and prove him wrong nearly a decade later once he realized he was in "the zone."

Looking back on the situation, Bryant said he now understands why Harris didn't play him that much in his first couple seasons, and believes that actually helped Bryant because it motivated him to become more efficient later in his career:

“That being said, he pushed me back then to try to be as efficient as possible to get some minutes on the floor,” Bryant said. “I had to earn everything I got. I’m very appreciative now. But I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of the motivation.”

With Bryant unable to go in his final home matchup with Dirk Nowitzki & Co., relive one of his greatest regular-season performances ever: