One of the big storylines of the 2001-02 NBA season was Michael Jordan’s return, as he suited up for the Washington Wizards after a three-year absence.
On Feb. 12, coming out of the All-Star break, Jordan and crew came to Southern California to take on Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Considering how much Bryant idolized Jordan, one may have expected him to go right at No. 23 and launch a ton of shots in order to one-up him. With Shaquille O’Neal out of action, perhaps an excuse could’ve been made if he had done just that.
But that’s not exactly what happened.
Instead, Bryant dished out 15 assists while scoring 23 points and grabbing 11 rebounds as the Lakers overcame a very poor first half to defeat Washington, 103-94.
His 15 assists were a new career-high.
It showed people across the basketball world that Bryant was much more than just a scorer and that he could have a massive impact on a game without scoring big points.
