Ranking Kobe Bryant’s 5 best games of his NBA career

Here are the five best games for Kobe Bryant in his 20 year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

After years of dazzling many fans across the world (and driving others to the brink of madness), the Kobe Bryant era came to an end Wednesday in the only way the Mamba could: by dropping 50 shots and scoring 60 points for the sixth times in his career.

Over the past two decades, Bryant has cemented his place as not just one of the best guards or best Los Angeles Lakers of all time, but one of the best to ever play in the NBA. Even with the Lakers going through some lean years of late, Bryant was (when healthy) still one of the greatest to ever step on the court.

Over those 20 seasons, Kobe Bryant had plenty of memorable games based on point total or how he stepped up at the most important time. It’s nearly impossible to narrow that down to a list of just a few games, but there are five that stick out above the others. Here are the five best games of Kobe Bryant’s 20 year career in the NBA.

Next: No. 5 - 62 points vs. Mavericks (2005)