The NBA world got a surprise reminder on Thursday night that Flight Mamba still has what it takes to leave the runway when Kobe Bryant dunked on the hopes and dreams of poor Clint Capela in the Lakers’ 107-87 defeat to the Houston Rockets.
Part of a 22-point effort on the evening by Bryant, the poster (video here) was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable night for the Lakers and their home crowd at Staples Center. And it’s certainly a moment that stuck with Lakers rookie D’Angelo Russell, who summed up the awe and fear of God that Bryant’s dunk instilled in his teenage psyche with a priceless quote in the postgame.
D'Angelo on Kobe's dunk: "You've got two years left in you if you do something like that."
— Ryan Ward (@Lakers_Examiner) December 18, 2015
Whoa there, easy now, rook.
In easily the biggest non-Warriors storyline in the Association this year, Bryant is, of course, planning to end his legendary NBA career at the close of the 2015-16 season. The five-time NBA champion has repeatedly and emphatically shot down the notion that he could still be convinced to change his mind and play beyond that so Russell’s comment may have been just a bit of a gleeful, tongue-in-cheek remark.
For Russell, his largely insipid rookie campaign thus far only started to gain traction when head coach Byron Scott separated the 19-year-old from Bryant and started bringing him off the bench. The No. 2 overall pick in last June’s draft was probably just being nice and acknowledging an epic moment from one of the best to ever lace ’em up with a strong dose of youthful hyperbole (which we must say is a lot better than Russell’s usual mannerisms about Kobe). In all likelihood, Russell might be secretly counting down the days until Bryant retires, at which point the Ohio State product will finally be able to properly develop and attempt to make the Lakers his team for the taking.
Still, the unintentional comedic value of Bryant returning for another two years to another $48.5 million contract would be off the charts though.
H/T NBA Reddit
