Take that, Shaquille (aka, the NBA thread)

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm sure scakilljoy's gonna point to this as more evidence of selfish play ( ), but Kobe Bryant scored 81 points last night!

Let's put that in perspective.

Kobe had 55 points in the second half. The only player to score that many points in an entire game this season...Kobe Bryant.

The top 5 individual scoring performances in NBA history now look like this:

1. Wilt Chamberlin, 100pts
2. Kobe Bryant, 81 pts
3. Wilt Chamberlin, 78 pts
4. Wilt Chamberlin, 73 pts
5. Wilt Chamberlin, 73 pts

Kobe is only the 4th player to score over 70 in a game, and none of the other three are Michael Jordan (he topped out at 69).

And this isn't exactly a fluke. He had 62 points a month ago...and he didn't play the 4th quarter of that game. Say what you want about NBA egos, blah, blah, blah, Kobe Bryant this season has reached a level in his game that's just awe inspiring.