Anthony GharibApr 13, 2026, 08:51 AM ET
The first five shots Kobe Bryant took in the final game of his 20-year NBA career ended in the same way: a miss.
A 3-pointer on the left wing fell short. A midrange jumper went long. His third and fourth looks inside the paint didn't drop. The fifth, an 18-footer, bounced out.
With each miss, the crowd in Los Angeles on April 13, 2016, let out audible displeasure. But when his first shot finally went in, a 10-footer with 5:12 left in the opening quarter, all seemed right again.
"When he made that shot, we knew it was about to just keep pouring," Bryant's teammate Jordan Clarkson told ESPN.
Bryant hit five straight in rapid succession, flipping the crowd's groans into thunderous chants of "Kobe."
"After he made that first shot and the crowd just [sent] like a surge of encouragement, support and probably a little bit of relief, too," Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame photographer Andrew Bernstein told ESPN. "Like he's off the schnied, he's on the board. Even if he left with four points, nobody cares at this point."
Nearly 10 years later, Julius Randle's memory of the game is still fresh. Randle, a current Minnesota Timberwolves forward, played two seasons with Bryant and 33 minutes in his final game.
One detail still resonates with him about that farewell performance.
"He turned into the Black Mamba really fast," Randle said. "You could just see it in his eyes. He wanted to win that game like it was a championship."
By night's end, everyone in the arena -- from Jay-Z and Shaquille O'Neal courtside to Utah Jazz players trying to stop Bryant -- felt the Black Mamba's venom.
He dropped a stunning 60 points on 22-of-50 shooting as the Lakers defeated the Jazz 101-96. It might not have been pretty, but at the end of a franchise-worst 17-65 regular-season campaign, his performance sweetened the bad taste in the mouths of many Lakers fans.
For one night, one game, nothing else mattered except watching one of the league's all-time greats turn a celebration into a coronation. Ten years to the day, many in attendance still can't believe what they witnessed.
"I can't say we expected that. But it's Kobe," teammate Larry Nance Jr. told ESPN. "You expected something."
Bernstein snapped the first headshot of the five-time NBA champion in October 1996. April 13, 2016, didn't just mark the end of a chapter in Bryant's career, but one in Bernstein's, too. And he wanted to make the most of it.
Then the NBA's senior photographer, Bernstein approached Bryant's management about spending the day with him, and they obliged. Bernstein left his house at 4 a.m., drove to the arena and took a rideshare service to Bryant's office in Newport Beach. Bryant was already at work in a meeting.
Hours later, Bryant, his camera crew and Bernstein rode in Bryant's helicopter to the arena. The early moments of the trip showed Bryant's calm demeanor on a day unlike any other.
Five minutes in, Bryant fell asleep.
"This guy had a heart rate like it was a constant chill," Bernstein told ESPN. "Just incredible on that day of all days that he was just so relaxed and at peace. It was wonderful to see, actually."
Bryant arrived at the arena in an all-black suit and shades, smiling as he walked toward the locker room. His comfort level continued there, as he signed autographs and was gracious with his time. Bernstein didn't feel any nervousness or tension from him.
In his 29th season as the Lakers' color analyst, Stu Lantz headed to the locker room pregame, where he found Bryant with a message: "I'm going to have some fun tonight."
"When Kobe would say things like that, you knew something special was going to happen," Lantz told ESPN.
With tipoff approaching, Jazz forward Joe Ingles ran out of the visitors locker room to warm up. A typical portion of a game night had a completely atypical vibe.
Ingles and his Jazz teammates were in the precarious position of being on the other side of Bryant's final game.
"No one even cared that we were in the arena, which is understandable," Ingles told ESPN.
Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter, now in his 43rd season, recalled to ESPN that the pregame scene was "pretty hectic." Clarkson said so many people were there it hindered the players' ability to get a proper warmup.
"When we got to the arena, it was a little bit more than usual, I would say as we were walking in," NBA official David Guthrie, one of three that game, told ESPN. "But once we walked out onto the floor pregame, as soon as you walked out, it's like the building was already full of people. There was celebrities everywhere. There was media everywhere, all over the floor."
The game warranted special festivities before tipoff.
Magic Johnson delivered a speech in which he called Bryant "the greatest Laker ever." A video tribute featured luminaries such as Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Lakers fan and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea performed the national anthem.
Tanter announced Utah's starting lineup, and when the time came for the Lakers' one, another video followed of current teammates sharing their appreciation. When asked how they prepared to play after the lengthy intro, Nance admitted: "You don't."
"You just appreciate it. ... It was his night," Nance said. "If they needed us to perform at halftime, shoot, we would've performed at halftime. It was a night to honor him."
ESPN's Lisa Salters revealed in her sideline report that the plan for Bryant was to play 36 minutes, depending on the game's trajectory and how he felt.
Los Angeles came out looking like a team with just 16 wins. Luckily, the Jazz -- eliminated from playoff contention moments before the game began -- struggled, too. They held a 6-4 lead before Bryant blocked Trevor Booker, then connected on his first basket.
His fourth out of five straight makes -- a contested corner 3-pointer over Jazz forward Rodney Hood -- sent him hopping in front of the Lakers bench, acknowledging the swish.
For Lantz, the bucket served as a positive omen.
"I'm thinking, 'That shot has no chance of going in.' It went in," he said. "I'm like, 'This is his night. This is Kobe Bryant's night.'" Utah went right back down the floor, and Hood set up a wide-open Ingles 3-pointer, which he splashed. Lakers guard Marcelo Huertas received the inbounds pass and quickly threw an outlet to Bryant, who gathered it and sank home another 3-pointer, sending the crowd and Lakers bench into delirium.
Ingles contested the shot and still remembers what happened immediately afterward. Bryant let out a little laugh toward Ingles.
"Obviously now, especially after [Bryant's death in 2020], you'll always remember those moments," Ingles said. "I didn't think I'd play in the NBA, let alone play in his last game. Really, really special moment."
Bryant played the entire first quarter, scoring 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. As he sat on the bench to open the second, his teammate almost produced his own highlight.
With 7:18 remaining in the frame, Nance attempted to dunk on Jazz center Jeff Withey. It prompted a crowd reaction loud enough for Jack Nicholson to quickly turn his head while being interviewed by ESPN on the broadcast.
When reminded of the near poster, Nance laughed before brushing it off.
"I don't even remember it. That night had nothing to do with me," he said, summing up the feelings of Bryant's teammates.
It didn't take a basketball savant to understand the Lakers' game plan. This was Bryant's night after all.
Lakers coach Byron Scott went into every timeout the same way. Longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti -- also in his final game before retirement -- would hand Scott the drawing board. The coach entered the huddle with a message that didn't take long to relay. "All right, here's the play, guys. Kobe got the ball here. Rest of y'all, get the hell out the way," Scott said on Power 106 Los Angeles in February. "I said, 'Kobe, if you want to pick and roll, just call one of them up.' I said, 'Everybody get the hell out the way.' Simple as that."
Bryant returned in the second quarter and had 7 points on 2-of-7 shooting. He found his groove after halftime, dropping 15 in the third while pushing his minute total to 30 and points to 37. During an interview with Salters before the fourth quarter, Scott said Bryant told him, "Coach, let me go, I feel good."
However, Bryant showed signs of fatigue, at times huffing and puffing for air. He played the entire second half for a season-high 42 minutes and his most since November 2014.
Lantz often joked with Bryant that the star had a third lung because he never got tired. That night proved to be an exception. Lantz believed Bryant wouldn't make it until the end without sitting, telling Bryant postgame he was "sucking air." The guard responded: "I was dying," according to Lantz, yet Bryant found a way to leave it all out on the floor.
And his teammates understood the assignment.
Though he took 50 shots, it took a collective -- and unselfish -- effort to get Bryant the ball.
"It was just rebound and give the ball to him," Nance said. "We were getting stops strictly to give the ball to him. We were setting screens strictly to get him shots. It was just all-out sacrifice for one common goal, and that was this guy."
A layup for Bryant's 46th and 47th points cut Utah's lead to eight with 3:05 left, kicking off what Guthrie called a "really intense final stretch."
Bryant hit two free throws, the Jazz scored and then two more Bryant layups followed, pulling the Lakers within four with 1:27 remaining. The Golden State Warriors won an NBA-record 73 wins at Oracle Arena that night, but all eyes were on Los Angeles.
After another Lakers stop, Nance -- living up to his word -- grabbed the rebound and quickly found Bryant. Bryant dribbled the ball up, received a screen from Randle on the left wing, dribbled three times to his left, then rose to splash a 3-pointer over Lyles, stunning the sellout crowd and pulling the Lakers within one.
Nicholson leaned back, excitedly threw his hands up and clapped. Cameras caught Jay-Z with raised eyebrows mouthing "wow." Snoop Dogg danced in the crowd. Hubie Brown repeatedly yelled "Oh!" on the ESPN broadcast, and Lantz found himself in a completely different environment.
"I was in la la land. I was like, 'I'm not seeing this. I'm just not seeing this.' I've seen every game the kid has ever played in the pros, but I've never seen anything like this on your last game," he said. "I mean, for him to be able to do what he did, again, is just mind-boggling."
Utah had the seventh-best defensive rating in the league that season but was without its best defensive player, center Rudy Gobert. Ingles played for head coach Quin Snyder for eight years.
"Some of the shots he was making, it didn't f---ing matter if we sent five people to him, he was going to make some of those shots," Ingles said. "It honestly felt like the second half, the more he made more shots, at that point it was like he's not f---ing missing now. He's in that mode now."
Bryant's final field goal, a 19-foot midrange jumper, put the Lakers ahead for good and sent the crowd into new realms of delirium as Utah called a timeout. The Jazz then missed a layup, and Bryant went to the free throw line for his 59th and 60th points.
He scored the last 17 points for the Lakers, going from 47 to 60, within 1:12 of game time.
On the court to close the contest, Ingles was in awe of what Bryant was doing at 37 years old and after everything his body had been through.
Dropping 60 points in Game 82 of his 20th season was one thing. Getting there was another.
Various injuries marred the final years of Bryant's career. A torn Achilles tendon near the end of the 2012-13 campaign began a stretch in which he played 41 combined games over the following two seasons.
Scott had a simple goal for Kobe's final season: get him to Game No. 82 healthy. Nance remembers Bryant icing his knees, elbows, wrists and "any joint you could think of." But Bryant reached the finish line, appearing in 66 games.
Ingles entered the league in 2014-15 and hadn't faced Bryant at his absolute peak. The second half showed him what he missed.
Similarly for the young Lakers who hadn't played with Bryant in his prime, they got a feel for the Black Mamba.
"You could see him willing himself. Because we had seen the bumps and bruises and aches and pains he had gone through all year to get to that point," Nance said. "But when he locked in, you could tell there was another gear he went to."
The final stat of Bryant's career came on an outlet pass to Clarkson for an assist. It put the Lakers up five with four seconds left.
Bryant tapped his chest nine times, then opened his arms to Nance. After Nance, the Lakers' other young players with high potential -- Randle, Clarkson and D'Angelo Russell -- soon followed in a memorable embrace.
Ten years later, Clarkson called it a moment of foreshadowing. Randle, Clarkson and Russell went on to have successful careers from "the insights of what he told us playing alongside him," Clarkson said. Being responsible for Bryant's last stat carries extra weight, too.
"Something he passed down to all of us young dudes that were there, I think that's like the symbolism of it," Clarkson said. "His knowledge and everything. So it's pretty dope for me. I'll hold that and cherish it."
After Utah's final timeout, Bryant subbed out to a thunderous standing ovation. Bernstein had a prime spot next to the Lakers bench as Bryant exited.
"The players and the crowd was just going bananas," he said. "And I do remember thinking, wow, that's the last time I'll see him check out of a game. I mean, it was really bittersweet."
The magnitude of Bryant's remarkable performance hit Guthrie, who until that moment had been too busy officiating the game to appreciate it. He high-fived and hugged fellow officials Monty McCutchen and Haywoode Workman, proud to be part of the moment.
Then, someone brought over the box score -- the only one Guthrie saved in his 21-year NBA officiating career.
"That's the one thing that I have from the game is that box score," he said. "And that's really the only thing that I ever want from it is just that box score, which is just a normal thing you get every game. But that one's just a little bit, it's more special."
Others agree.
Ingles called it one of the top games he has played in. For Nance, that night is No. 1 outside of facing his brother in the NBA. Clarkson has appeared in the NBA Finals, but "in terms of energy and everybody in the place showing love to one person," nothing compares.
After the final buzzer sounded and Bryant hugged his teammates, he shared a moment with O'Neal on the baseline. Bryant's former teammate asked him a question thousands of others wondered: "How'd you do that s---, man?"
"I have no idea," Bryant replied.
Before taking the microphone for a nearly four-minute speech, Bryant embraced his family, sharing a quick handshake with Gianna, his second-oldest daughter, as former teammates gathered on the court.
Then he addressed the crowd with his sweat-soaked No. 24 jersey still on, expressing his appreciation for Lakers fans, reflecting on the 20-year journey and concluding by thanking his family.
Running out of words on a night when his 60 points made the sports world similarly speechless, Bryant kept his closing statement simple.
"What can I say? Mamba out," dropping the mic on his closing performance.
