Did Utah Jazz Deliberately Allow Kobe Bryant To Rack Up 60 Points In His Farewell Game?

Kobe Bryant bidding goodbye to the Los Angeles Lakers was an emotional one. Having donned the purple and gold uniform for two decades, it was time to drop the towel for the legend. 

Bryant joined the Lakers in 1996 when he was just 17-years-old. He decided to retire after playing for 20 years and winning five championships in the NBA. 

Kobe Bryant in his final game was a beast. At 37, he was not easy to guard and kept slipping from the hands of the defenders. He was slithering through the court like how he would in his prime. 

It is a bizarre coincidence that today marks the 4th year since he played his monumental final game against the Utah Jazz.

Kobe Bryant and his eternal sixty

Lakers fans will forever keep rewatching his final match against the Utah Jazz in 2016. Nothing else mattered that night. It was all about Kobe and his Lakers legacy. 

Playing in his 1,346th regular-season game, Kobe’s approach would not have been any different from the others. He always wanted to give it everything he could on the night. He played for 42 minutes overall and displayed an astonishing performance.

Bryant ended the game with 60 points in his bag, his sixth and final time achieving the feat. The crowd at the Staples Center erupted when he got his 60th from the free-throw line. 

Many people ponder that the Utah Jazz went easy on Kobe that night and let him rack up the points. 

Did Utah Jazz players go easy on Bryant?

It was after a couple of days after Bryant’s tragic death when sportscaster Mike Tirico went on The Ryen Rusillo podcast to talk about Kobe’s death and his legacy. 

He also brought up a moment from his final Lakers game, which many people might have left unnoticed. It was during the final seconds of the 4th quarter when Bryant was fouled and received two free throws.

Bryant was on 58 points before he took the throws. He got the first one right and was at 59 now. Tirico said that when Bryant was about to shoot the second free throw, Gordon Hayward, the Celtics forward stepped into the lane.

Now Tirico indicated that Hayward’s violation would have given Bryant another shot in case he had missed. 

Hayward, however, mentioned that this was not the case and clarified his actions in a series of tweets. The forward took to Twitter to mention his love and admiration for Kobe and mourned the loss of a legend. He also said:

“It has also come to my attention that there is a story going around tonight about an intentional lane violation that I took to ensure Kobe would get his 60th point in his final game and many are applauding me for the gesture. The fact of the matter is that is not true.

That was a night that I will truly never forget as I can remember almost every moment of it and my goal that night was to compete as hard as I possibly could against Kobe because that is what he was all about and I wanted to give him my very best.”

Hayward’s confession made it even more memorable for Kobe fans. With every Jazz player trying their best to stop him from scoring, Kobe still defied them and went on to claim 60 points. His mentality when it comes to competing is truly on a level of its own.