Mike Tirico — who called Kobe Bryant’s final NBA game in 2016 –pointed out a moment in the Los Angeles Lakers legend’s unbelievable 60-point finale that we had all missed.
While speaking to The Ringer, he noted that Bryant hit his 59th point of the night at the free-throw line, and that his second from the charity stripe would give him 60.
But what if he missed? He’d be stuck on 59 points … yet it would have been much cooler for him to have a 60-point night before retiring.
That’s when Tirico discussed then-Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward, telling the world that Hayward had stepped into the lane right before Bryant’s free throw, just in case the legend missed the shot (Bryant didn’t).
“He had the complete wherewithal at 59 to just put a foot in the lane and look over at the ref, just in case Kobe missed it,” Tirico said. “To make sure he got another shot at 60.”
You can see the moment below … and sure looks like Hayward stepped into the lane blatantly long before Bryant began his attempt.
But Hayward denied the deliberate move on Twitter late Monday night:
