Kobe Bryant lets Jalen Rose off the hook for 81-point game

Jalen Rose was one of the starting guards for the Toronto Raptors the night Kobe Bryant scored the most points he has ever scored in a single game, but Kobe wants everyone to know that his scoring frenzy was not Rose’s fault.

Bryant was interviewed by Rose during Nike’s “Makers of the Game” event for All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles on Thursday, and the topic if Kobe’s 81-point game from 2006 came up. The future Hall of Famer took the opportunity to let Rose off the hook.

kobe finally let jalen off the hook for the 81 point game pic.twitter.com/pHLHSqttzL

— Whitney Medworth (@its_whitney) February 16, 2018

“In all fairness, you really did not guard me that game,” Kobe said. “You get a bad rap for that, but you might have defended me like twice.”

That had to have felt good for Rose coming from the man who assassinated his team, but it probably won’t stop people like Joel Embiid from taking vicious shots at the ESPN analyst. When a player drops 81 points, the entire opposing team is responsible. Rose just happens to be one of the most prominent names from that Raptors squad.