Kobe Bryant is second in NBA history for most points scored in a single game. Wilt Chamberlain, of course, is the record holder with his astonishing 100-point game back in 1962. Kobe’s 81-point performance happened in 2006, so obviously it is still possible to come close to Wilt in today’s game. That being said, Kobe completely took that game over against the Raptors and still fell 19 points short of the record. For most teams, that’s an entire game’s worth of points.
Kobe still insists it will happen.
“It probably won’t happen in our generation or the next, but it will happen,” Bryant said according to the Orange County Register. “Right place, right time, right team … the right opponent.”
I wouldn’t be so sure. We all know Michael Jordan thinks he could do it if he played in today’s game, but scoring 100 points in a game is among the list of sports’ untouchable records in my opinion. Think about how unbelievable it is when a player scores 50 — and that’s only halfway there. Kobe has had some tremendous games, but if he couldn’t do it in his prime and Jordan couldn’t come close, it’s tough to envision anyone touching that record.
Humans have gotten bigger in general. The thing about Wilt is he was 7 feet tall in an era where people just weren’t that big. The reason he scored 100 points is because his teammates kept dumping it down into the post, where nobody could cover Chamberlain. Kobe scored 81 by catching fire from the floor. Scoring 100 like that would be nearly impossible. Then again, I’ve been wrong before.
