NBA legend Kobe Bryant has hit many game winners and clutch shots during his illustrious basketball career. Vanessa Bryant shared one such occurrence in an Instagram story. 

On April 30, 2006, the LA Lakers and the Phoenix Suns locked horns in the playoffs at the then Staples center. In fact, Kobe hit two clutch shots in this game to help his Lakers win against the Suns. 

With Kobe’s buzzer-beating game-winner, the Lakers won Game 4 and took a 3-1 series lead against the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2006 Playoffs. The final scoreline was 98-99 in favor of the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant forces overtime

With just 7.9 seconds left in the regulation, the Lakers were down by 2 points as the score read 90-88. And things looked gloom as the Lakers didn’t even have possession of the ball. The Phoenix Suns had the ball and were coming out of a time-out.

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And everybody knew the ball would go to Steve Nash, the 2006 NBA MVP. All the Suns had to do was keep the ball for the remaining seconds or hit the free throws if the Lakers decide to foul to secure the win. But the Suns would learn that it’s not as easy as it sounds against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. 

As expected, the Suns in-bounded the ball and passed it to Nash. But Smush Parker deflected it and it ended up in the hands of Devean George. He then passed it to Kobe Bryant who made no mistake in hitting the floater to make the score 90 apiece.

The Suns were not able to make a shot in the remaining time and the game went into overtime. 

Kobe Bryant’s game-winner

Again, it was evenly matched up in the overtime. With 6.1 seconds left, the Suns had a narrow lead of 1 point with a scoreline of 98-97. And again, Steve Nash was at the center of things. There was a jump ball situation between Steve Nash and Luke Walton at the center court.

Luke managed to tip the ball, and Bryant got hold of it. He then sized up his defender and pulled up from the elbow to hit the game-winning shot as he beat the buzzer. The Staples center erupted and the celebrations that followed were one of the most iconic Kobe Bryant celebrations and will live forever in the hearts of fans.

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Kobe Bryant had 24 points, making 9 of 14 shots and 8 assists. Steve Nash had 22 points and 11 assists. 

After winning 3 straight games, the Lakers took a 3-1 lead. However, it was the Phoenix Suns who had the last laugh as they won the series by winning the next 3 games.