Kobe Bryant’s last game: A Hollywood ending for a Los Angeles legend

The throng had grown to dizzying proportions by late afternoon, thousands upon thousands pressed shoulder-to-shoulder outside Staples Center. David Tsoy stood on tiptoes to look around.

“I didn’t expect so many people here,” he said. “They all came to say farewell to Kobe?”

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All of them came to celebrate and honor former Lakers teammate Kobe Bryant.

Each of them had to be at Staples Center on Wednesday night to watch Bryant play his final game as a Laker, to share in his moment, to be a part of his glory just one more time after 20 years of glorious moments.

Read More— Broderick Turner

Kobe also showed off his language skills by answering a question in Spanish in response to a question from the Spanish-language media. “Es muy dificil.”

The grainy video clip popped up on the Staples Center scoreboard toward the start of Wednesday’s pre-game festivities.

There was Kobe Bryant as a rookie, talking to legendary Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn and predicting he would play “19 or 20 [years], at least.”

Who knew that the brash, uniquely gifted teenager would end up being correct?

Bryant, 37, played the final game of his 20-year career Wednesday, ending an era with five championships, 18 All-Star game appearances and way too many outsiders’ opinions, pro or con, to ever tally.

His 1,556th and last box score showed a stunning 60 points on 22-for-50 shooting in a 101-96 Lakers victory over the Utah Jazz.

It was chaotic, it was beyond memorable, it was so very Bryant.

The raucous crowd couldn’t care less about the final score, cheering with piercing volume every time Bryant scored during his 42 minutes.

“Man!” he exclaimed after the game when handed a microphone at midcourt. “I can’t believe how fast 20 years went by. This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy.

“We’ve been through our ups and we’ve been through our downs. I think the most important part is that we stayed together throughout.”

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Kobe Bryant finished with 60 points and the Lakers were able to pull out a 101-96 win. Kobe took his final farewell with 4 seconds left on the clock to chants of “Kobe, Kobe, Kobe.”

Kobe Bryant hit two free throws with 14.5 seconds to get to 60 points and give the Lakers a 99-96 lead. You couldn’t have written a better script.

Kobe hit a runner in the lane to get to 51 points on the night. A high banking shot went in on his 47th attempt of the night.

The shot brought the Lakers back to within six points (96-90) with 1:34 left in the game.

Kobe bucket has given the Lakers a one-point lead 97-96 with under 30 seconds left. He has 58 points now. Crazy.

So far Kobe is sitting at 45 points on 43 shots. The Lakers are down five and it could be setting up for an epic finish.

Kobe has 45 points on 45 shots in 38 minutes. The Jazz have opened up a nine-point lead with under four left. The buzzer-beater finale is probably a long shot at this point.

Another strong quarter for Kobe. He’s 14-34 from the field and 3-16 from three-point line in 30 minutes. He’s added three point and three assists.

With Twitter’s outage earlier, we’ve miss some of the gems.

Hong Kong. Japan. Taiwan. China. Groups of fans across Staples Center held up signs saying they’d traveled thousands of miles from Asia to witness Kobe Bryant’s final minutes in the NBA.

Eric Gao’s Chinese sports events company Irena International brought 150 over. Irena arranged for the tourists to meet with current and former Lakers throughout the week at meals and on the practice court, including Robert Horry, Rick Fox and D’Angelo Russell.

But the goosebumps from being in the stands Wednesday night is what brought Gao himself over. The first two times he came to a Lakers game, he sat in the nosebleeds. This time, he went for a better view -- and at midcourt.

Gao, who has organized NBA exhibition games in China, doubts a single basketball player will ever energize hundreds of millions of people in his country like Bryant has. Or that anyone again will get hundreds of fans to fly out for his finale. The maturing Chinese fandom is more sophisticated and more diverse in their loyalties now.

“There’s several young rising stars -- Stephen Curry is one -- that can be the next Kobe Bryant for China,” Gao said. “But it’s difficult. Kobe is No. 1.”

Kobe has finished the first half with 22 points, hitting 7 of his 20 shots in 18 minutes of action.

The Lakers are down 57-42 at the half.

Three points for Kobe in second quarter to up his total to 18 after a bucket and a free throw. Lakers down 42-34 with 4 minutes left before the half.

Seems like Twitter is having sporadic outages still. Seems to currently be down here at the L.A. Times.

We are clutching each other for safety....

Kobe has reached 21 points after a pump faking a defender to clear himself for a long three-pointer.

He is 2-8 from beyond the arc and 7-17 overall.

Apparently, Twitter isn’t working for the reporters at Staples Center. So that’s the reason you haven’t seen any tweets coming from the game.

The weird part is all other websites are working. Let the conspiracy theories begin.

It’s been hot and cold for Kobe. After missing his first five shots, he made his next five. After that hot streak, he missed his next three shots.

Final stats for the first quarter: 5-13 FG, 15 points, two rebounds and one assist. Lakers down 21-19.

Kobe got a block on one end and went down and got his first basket of the night after a pump fake. Kobe had missed his first five shots before making his next two.

Kobe’s hot start has continued. He has hit five straight shots to reach 12 points. After his fifth consecutive basket, the crowd was on their feet.

Kobe’s stat line so far: 5-12, 12 points, 2 rebounds.

Kobe has gotten hot. After missing his first five shots, Kobe has hit his next three shots, including a free throw after a foul. Lakers and Jazz are tied 11-11.

What’s up Laker Nation? I can’t hear you, what’s up Laker Nation?

We are here to celebrate greatness for 20 years. Excellence for 20 years. Kobe Bryant has never cheated the game. He has never cheated us as fans. He’s played through injuries. He’s played hurt. And we have five championship banners to show for it.

When you think about this town, for the last 20 years, this man has been the biggest and greatest celebrity we’ve had in this town for 20 years. He is not only a great and unbelievable sports icon but also he’s the greatest to wear the purple and gold.

So right now we should put our hands together for the late, great Dr. Jerry Buss for trading for this man. And also we want to thank Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss for keeping him here for 20 years.

And I know this is Kobe’s night but last but not least is another great Laker that is about to leave us. Please give it up for Gary Vitti too as well.

Kobe has 19 Laker records. He has nine NBA records. And let me just tell you a stat that is unbelievable. The man has scored 25 times over 50 points. He’s scored over 60 points five times. And we all knew where we were when he scored 81 points.

So this is what I want you to do Laker Nation. We gonna watch this video of him and then he’s going to come out to center court and wave to you guys. But let’s give him the biggest, longest standing ovation that he’s ever seen in his life. OK?

Let’s look at the video right quick.

— John Cherwa

After a number of intro videos, a Magic Johnson speech and an interesting take on the National Anthem by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kobe Bryant’s final game has begun.

Over/under on points and shots taken?

Staples Center playing a video of former players talking about Kobe. A big smile came across Kobe’s face when Shaq said, “Congrats, old man.”

During the SportsNet telecast, Robert Horry mentioned Kobe hitting two free throws after tearing his Achilles tendon. Horry said he remembered when Paul Pierce was wheel-chaired off the court for an ‘owwy’, while Kobe dragged himself off without any help.

— Angel Rodriguez

Some Lakers fans, including Gary Suh, who were hoping for a last-minute fall in ticket prices are not finding much luck. Tickets on StubHub were still going for about $1,000, with a stream of fans stopping by the ticket reseller’s tent at L.A. Live to order and print tickets.

By 6 p.m., Suh, who was hoping to score tickets for himself and three CSU San Bernardino classmates from a scalper, was resigned to watching from a nearby restaurant.

Ticket-buying app Gametime, which earlier Wednesday had forecast a price drop based on a large supply online, said that it never materialized.

“There is no stopping Mamba mania right now,” Gametime’s Sean Page said Wednesday night. “Despite the availability earlier today, people are desperate to attend this ceremony, it seems, at any expense.”