Even in Sacramento, the fans showed up to pay tribute to and cheer Kobe Bryant.
And they got their money’s worth — Kobe had 28 points on 18 shots and even showed he still has some hops, cutting baseline then getting up to finish and alley-oop. Also in this game, Kobe passed the 33,000 total points mark, joining only Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabar as people in that club.
Give the people what they want — Kobe did that.
What was maybe more impressive was the 27-point comeback led by D’Angelo Russell (career high 27 before spraining and ankle late in the fourth) as the Lakers made a game of what had been a blowout. Sacramento got the win 118-115, but the Lakers let their youngsters play the fourth (while Kobe sat) and it worked. Maybe they should try it again.