For 20 seasons, Kobe Bryant was the Washington Wizards’ enemy. The purple and gold powerhouse who, no matter who you surrounded him with, could will his team to a victory.
And the Washington Wizards, despite being in a different conference than the Los Angeles Lakers, were far too familiar with that. It wasn’t as if the Wizards had all-star squad after all-star squad during Kobe’s reign over the NBA, but it seemed that no matter who they had — or more importantly, who Kobe had — he could always get it done.
Who can forget the time in 2005 when, starting alongside Lamar Odom, Smush Parker, Chris Mihm, and Brian Cook, Kobe dropped 41 points on 24 shots as the Lakers beat the Wizards 97-91?