Kobe Bryant was a man on a mission in the 2009-2010 season, even after winning it all the year before. The Los Angeles Lakers were still the favorites, but there were bumps along the road. Teams were playing much harder against the defending champs, which led to some close games here and there.
At one particular time, the Memphis Grizzlies put them to the test. They controlled most of the second half and had something to say about it.
The Grizzlies were a mediocre team at the time, trying to find their way. They had a young center in Marc Gasol and were just trying to figure out how to play with a frontcourt that also included Zach Randolph .
But on this particular night, Memphis fought toe-to-toe with the defending champs. Led by Z-Bo's 20 and 14 plus O.J. Mayo 's 25, the Grizzlies were on their way to victory with a 5-point cushion, 95-90, with just over two minutes left at home.
As per usual, however, Kobe refused to lose. He just came back from a five-game absence, so the Purple and Gold may have experienced some rust with him back in the lineup. Bryant himself had a fine shooting night (13-for-19), but they were staring down the barrels of defeat against a tough Memphis unit.
The 2008 MVP could not be denied, though. He scored the team's final nine points, including a go-ahead three-pointer over Rudy Gay that proved to be the game-winner. When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers survived, 99-98.
After the game, Bryant joined Game Time with Ernie Johnson, Chris Webber and Kevin McHale on the panel. McHale, whose Memphis jersey caught Bryant's eye, asked him a question about his clutch shooting and wondered if he ever got nonchalant or bored making all those crucial shots.
The response was typical Kobe.
"No, but it's always a great feeling," Bryant explained. "When you hit with so much time on the clock, my mind automatically shifts to the defensive end of the floor, trying to get a stop to win the game. But, you know, it always feels like it's the first one."
Bean put it gently in response to a Hall of Famer's question, but you couldn't miss the meaning behind the word salad: "What's there to get bored about?" Every situation was different, and he needed to immediately play defense in the Memphis game to seal the deal. Nothing could get more exciting than that!
The win over Memphis on February 23, 2010, was one of Bryant's six game-winners of the 2009-10 season. He drilled two in December 2009 against the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks , drilled one against the Sacramento Kings on January 1, 12 days later against the Dallas Mavericks , and finally over the Toronto Raptors on March 9.
Most people romanticize those game-winners, which they should. However, what wasn't talked about as much was how important each of those wins was. The Western Conference was a bloodbath with eight teams winning 50 games. Had L.A. dropped all six of those games, they would have become the sixth seed instead of being No. 1.
Come the playoffs, that seeding mattered so much. Only two lower-seeded teams advanced to the second round that year, which means six of the eight benefited from homecourt advantage. The Lakers eventually won the title that year, which ironically swung in their favor because they played four games at home instead of three.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Jun 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
