Should Kobe Have Played The 4th Quarter?

by Brett Edwards

A big topic today seems to be a pseudo-controversy over whether or not Kobe Bryant should have gone back in to play the 4th quarter after scoring 62 points through three quarters. I can't even believe that people are asking this, when to me the answer is plainly obvious: no effing way.

Kobe's performance last night was fannnnnntastic. He was scoring at will, mostly within the flow of the offense until Josh Howard hit him in the head with a flagrant foul. After that Kobe had 10 "official" shot attempts (13 if you count the 3 times he was fouled in the act of shooting) in the last 7 or so minutes of the quarter, culminating in a 3-pointer with four seconds left that pushed the Laker lead to 34 points.

At that point, it never even occurred to me that Kobe would step foot on the court in the 4th quarter. The Lakers were up by 34! I was so sure of this I turned the game off and never once flipped back to see if he would be adding to his scoring total. Teams and players just don't pile on other teams like that. The only way Kobe would have kept playing is if the lead was only like 10 or 12 or less, but 34 points is almost insurmountable in this league, and with the game out of reach there's no need to risk injury or run up the score on your opponent. The class thing to do was for Kobe to sit out the 4th quarter, and that's exactly what he did.

Comments

[Craig]

To play the 4th or not, I was okay with either decision. It's great smack to drop a 62 spot in 3 quarters, outscore Dallas by himself (62-61) and ice down the rest of the game. Also, I would have been fine with an 80 spot also.

What pissed me off was that people were blaming Jackson for not putting Kobe back in. It was all Kobe's decision.

[rem]

If it's really his decision (which is classy) to sit is he trying to be classy because he feels he needs to be?

You can see it on his face he's thinking: "Man if I was out there..."

Zen Master Phil didn't force the issue either. Both will move on with more respect for each other.

[Sean]

What if he got injured? And shouldn't they use that free quarter to let other people get some more playing time? I think it was a good decision... being selfish never pays off.

[Sheldon Moonsamy]

The Mamba is the best. HE should of played.