One could hardly call the Nuggets that Bryant first played against in the season a real NBA team. On a side note, it was Bickerstaff himself who passed on drafting Bryant who went 13th in , declaring at the time that there was no one worth drafting past 10 where the Nuggets had a pick and instead traded down to 23 in one of the worst trades in Nuggets history. After a forgettable rookie outing versus the Nuggets in Los Angeles on December 1, three minutes, two points , Bryant made his debut in Denver on February 13th, at the old McNichols Sports Arena and scored nine points on shooting in 20 minutes of playing time.
Just one season later, as a 19 year old, Bryant would begin a multi-decade stretch of feasting on our Nuggets. As a 19 year old in February , Bryant had 21 points and seven assists in a beat down of the win Nuggets in Los Angeles.
And Bryant would have his first of many plus point games at Denver when he scored 23 points on the McNichols Arena floor in a March outing that saw the Lakers beat the lowly Nuggets by 21 points. From Bryant's rookie season in through the season, the Nuggets stunk. During that time span, the Nuggets won 21, 11, 14, 35, 40, 27 and 17 games.
Those win totals aren't typos. In fact, the Lakers so routinely blew out the Nuggets during that era that Bryant never had a chance to inflict real damage, except on February 11th, when Bryant went off for 43 points against the win Nuggets at Staples Center in just 31 minutes a game I attended in person. That game featured one of Bryant's all-time signature dunks, a sort-of degree dunk on Nuggets guard Junior Harrington after a beautiful behind-the-back move on a fast break.
You can see the play at mark in this video And even though that dunk is remembered by both Lakers and Nuggets fans alike, what is often forgotten is that Bryant's 42 point game came just one night before playing a home-and-home back-to-back against our Nuggets with Bryant going for 51 on the Pepsi Center floor the following night. Moreover, Bryant's 42 and 51 point back-to-back games versus Denver were during a nine consecutive game streak during which Bryant had at least 40 points in each game.
Bryant was really, really good back then. A season later, Bryant's world was upside down and it was visible on the court, too. As detailed above, during the off-season of Bryant would be accused of sexual assault right here in Colorado and had to play much of the season while going back-and-forth from NBA games to Eagle County to appear in court. When Bryant first visited the Nuggets that season, on January 7th, , the Lakers shooting guard struggled to connect on just eight of his 23 field goal attempts as Nuggets fans drowned the Pepsi Center with boos and chants of "GUILTY!
That was the first season of the Nuggets' "Carmelo Anthony Era" and the first of 10 consecutive playoff appearances three would come against Bryant's Lakers later on. Anthony rescued the Nuggets from the dark side of obscurity and put the team back on the NBA map. We watched Melo grow up, cheered the glory of him leading a long-suffering franchise to the playoffs seven straight times, including an appearance in the Western Conference finals. We rolled our eyes at his missteps of immaturity. Or have you forgotten the time Anthony got busted for marijuana left in his backpack by a friend?
It was all Melodrama. A blockbuster trade would eventually send him to the bright lights of New York City. The deal evoked old, fly-over city insecurities of fans in Denver.
Melo was blasted for being led by the nose out of town by La La Vazquez, his new wife and an actress who could find work opportunities in the Big Apple. The La La angle was too sexy clickbait to resist for lazy journalists and angry fans alike.
Earl Boykins added 22 points for Denver, which shot 49 percent to avoid its first three-game losing streak this season. Bryant has been accused of attacking a year-old employee at a resort near Vail and faces four years to life in prison or 20 years to life on probation.
He has said the sex was consensual, but the Denver crowd obviously wasn't buying it. Bryant responded well after his last trip to Colorado on Dec. He played with the same kind of determination this time, with plenty of grimaces and yells at teammates, but the shots just weren't falling.
Anthony and Miller took turns harassing Bryant, shutting down his drives and forcing him into difficult fadeaways. He didn't score until hitting an foot jumper into the game, and was 4-of with three turnovers in the first half. The Nuggets opened the game with a run, let the Lakers back in it, then pushed the lead to by halftime. Carter was 1-for from the field and hadn't scored since the first quarter before putting Toronto ahead on a 3-pointer with left.
After LeBron James missed a jumper with less than a minute left, Alvin Williams grabbed the rebound and found Carter downcourt for a dunk that gave Toronto a lead. After trailing with remaining, Orlando went on a run featuring three 3-pointers and 11 points by Tracy McGrady. But the Magic got no closer as Pierce scored four straight points to make it McGrady scored 28 points to lead Orlando, which has lost six straight on the road. He had 14 points in the fourth quarter.
Keith Bogans added a career-high 18 points. Iverson and Glenn Robinson combined for 16 points during a run to start the third quarter that gave the Sixers a point lead. With Iverson on the bench in the fourth quarter, the Clippers were able to cut the deficit to All Videos. Best Of. Professors Join Protests Demanding Immediate Change At USC USC faculty has now joined the masses of student body that are protesting the lack of action in regards to the sexual assault scandals that have taken place at the university in the recent, and remote past.
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