Kobe Bryant News: Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Says 'Black Mamba' Reminded Him Of Michael Jordan During Saturday's Game
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant put on such a solid performance on Saturday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs, that he reminded opposing head coach Gregg Popovich of a former player named Michael Jordan.
While the Lakers did end up losing to a narrow 106-102 tally, "The Black Mamba" put on a scorching performance in the third quarter, nailing three consecutive three pointers. He even drew a foul while sinking his third one, which gave him the opportunity to convert it into a four-point play if his free throw enters the basket and scores, which it did.
During the said three-minute period in the third quarter when the scoring surge transpired, Bryant was able to pile in an instant 12 points. Bryant's efforts gave him a total of 25 points, along with four assists in the end game. And while he was playing one of his many memorable performances during his 20th and final NBA season, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich could not help but be in awe of what he had seen.
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In a report by Ananth Pandian for CBS Sports, "Coach Pop" even went as far as comparing Bryant to Michael Jordan, a man widely considered by many as the greatest to ever play the game of basketball.
"It was like watching Michael [Jordan]," Popovich said. He added, "I was just watching. It was great. It was great. We made some mistakes. He took advantage of it. He's fantastic."
The report adds that after sinking one of his three pointers during the said period of the game, he turned to an injured Tim Duncan who was on the Spurs bench and simply shrugged his shoulders at him.
"What could I do? I miss the easy ones and make some B.S. like that," Bryant said. "I don't even know what to tell you. It was Tim's version of a yell, so it was a strong whisper."
For the current season so far, Bryant has played in 44 games in total and is averaging 16.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.0 steal, through 29.2 minutes of playing time per game.
