Coming off a three-peat, the Los Angeles Lakers had a rough start to their 2002-03 campaign. This was mainly because their biggest offensive weapon, Shaquille O'Neal , missed the first 12 games due to a toe injury. The Lakers went 3-9 in those 12 games.
On a positive note, the Lakers saw glimpses of a young, emerging Kobe Bryant during this time. However, once O'Neal returned, the power dynamics would shift back to their original state. But the Black Mamba liked the leadership position he had, sending a strong signal that he was no longer interested in playing second fiddle.
A prime example was the game against the Dallas Mavericks at the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) on December 6, 2002. The visiting team appeared to be cruising for most of the game, leading by as much as 30 points at one point. Meanwhile, seeing the Lakers look so helpless on the floor, their own fans began to boo at them.
Down by 27 points heading into the fourth quarter, Coach Phil Jackson and crew needed a herculean effort to pull themselves out of the mess. Taking up the challenge at this point was none other than Kobe, who scored 21 of his 27 points in the fourth, which included the turnaround jumper that ended up as the game-winner.
Oddly enough, the Lakers' head athletic trainer, Gary Vitti, also played a pivotal role in the nail-biting finish.
The fourth-quarter spectacle from Bryant was indeed something special. That said, the 6'6″ guard's heroic performance came after he pulled his groin in the third quarter. At this point, no player would be allowed back in the game, but the Mamba was different.
Funnily enough, Bryant cared less about the nature of the injury than about trainer Vitti informing Jackson about it, given that he would have to exit the game as a result. On his way to do the needful, Gary would be pulled aside by Kobe.
"Gary was going to rat me out. I had to jerk his arm out of the socket and say, 'I'm all right, man. Don't snitch on me. Let me play,'" revealed Bryant, who ended up playing a total of 42 minutes that game.
In the end, the Lakers fell one point short of tying the record for the largest fourth-quarter comeback at the time, set in 1977 when the Milwaukee Bucks rallied from a 28-point deficit against the Atlanta Hawks.
One might assume the groin injury was a one-off, but if it were always left to Bryant, he wouldn't have minded playing through his Achilles injury in 2013 either. Vitti once recalled that the five-time Lakers champion did contemplate playing through the catastrophic injury.
"He goes, 'I think it is (Achilles tendon), I reached back there and tried to pull it down.' It doesn't work that way. It might feel that way, but that's not how… I've never heard that before."
"That's when he says to me, 'Well, can't we just go back in the locker room, you tape it up and I could finish the game.' I said, 'It doesn't work like that, either…,'" stated the former Lakers trainer during an appearance on the All the Smoke podcast.
Nevertheless, this time around, there wasn't even a scope for any argument. Still, Bryant was allowed to shoot his free throws before exiting the arena. And unlike a lot of guys who had to be carted off after Achilles tears, Kobe walked off the court, once again showing he is one of a kind.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
