Kobe Bryant: A player.
You have to be very careful what you ask for in life-you just might get it. Just ask Kobe Bryant.
May 12th, '97. The Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT. Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Utah Jazz. Game Five.
There's 11.3 seconds left in regulation and the score is tied, 87-87. In the words of De La Soul, stakes is high. Not only because the Jazz are leading the Lakers 3-1 in the Western Conference Semifinals, but because things have gotten personal. It's the little things: a sneaky elbow here, a trip there, the hard stares, the merciless picks.
But for now, all that is secondary. The Lakers are in big trouble. A minute earlier, the big guy, Shaquille O'Neal, fouled out with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Harsh words were exchanged between him and Karl Malone after a flagrant foul committed by O'Neal early in the third quarter led to Malone receiving a technical. Robert Horry, meanwhile, gave Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek a rough forearm, earning himself an ejection. But......
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