During Thursday’s game between the Lakers and Rockets, Kobe Bryant turned back the clock about a decade when he elevated and threw down a one-handed dunk over Clint Capela.
Not surprisingly, Staples Center went crazy. And, it wasn’t just the fans. Bryant’s teammates also went nuts after seeing the ghost of No. 8 Kobe Bryant for a few seconds. Among the group of jubilant Lakers, was rookie D’Angelo Russell.
Russell was assessed a technical foul for his celebration of Bryant’s dunk, which included running across the baseline. Russell then tried to convince Bryant to pick up the tab for the infraction.
“Hey man, you’ve got to pay my tech on that one,” Russell told Bryant, via ESPN.
Bryant replied, “You ran the baseline on your own free will.”
Well, it was worth a shot. You certainly can’t blame the rookie for trying. After all, if Bryant didn’t dunk on Capela, Russell wouldn’t have gotten a technical foul, right?
Bryant’s view on it is that you just have to chalk that one up to the game and take a loss. “The best tech that D’Angelo will ever get,” Bryant said later.
D’Angelo Russell will pick up a few more technical fouls during the course of his career. However, this will likely be among the more memorable.
