On 28-for-46 shooting. That outshines Chamberlain's 36-of-63, and Kobe's style means that his shots are definitely more challenging. But there's something about triple digits that makes any other performance seem merely mortal. The success of a basketball team tends to militate against any individual scoring accomplishments. Look at where most of the other top scorers play. Whether it's T-Mac, KG, AI, whoever, their teams have tended to suck.

And what, 2 assists?

Just kidding.

He's a great player, no doubt, but he takes so many shots and he doesn't play within a team framework. He is so much "streetball" preferring to put the ball on the floor and wanting isolation so much. Rather than moving the ball to others, he'll shoot with three guys in his face. To his credit, he's made those shots more than a few times. I just don't prefer that style of play. So typical of the NBA; I'll watch college ball over it any day of the week.

That's quite a performance. But Wilt the Stilt dropped 100 on the New York Knicks in 1962.

I don't love Kobe. I have to respect him. 81 pts is incredible. He carried his team the whole year. The Lakers could have been the worst team in the West. Kobe didn't let that happen. Smush Parker? Lamar Odem? Luke Walton? These guys wouldn't see minutes on better teams.

Seems that he rapes NBA defenses as well. . .

81 points is 81 points, so it was obviously a very good, memorable performance. On the other hand, numbah is correct to point out that it was against a weak squad. I remember David Thompson, a largely forgotten phenomenon of the 70's with Denver had a 72 point game against someone when I was just a kid.

A "huge event" in this era where appearance has trumped the component of substance. Fill the olympic roster with Kobe Bryants (he's going to be on the '08 squad, by the way) and we're assured of another bronze medal.

It just means he's a ballhog. He did it against Toronto anyways. I could drop 20 on them and I don't even play.

The story is pretty exciting for now, but Kobe didn't hit the magic number 100 like Wilt did, so he won't be remembered for having the best scoring game ever. The game was also a meaningless one between the Lakers and Raptors in mid January. In a couple of years, this won't be a defining moment for sports in 2006.

I saw this game. It was the greatest individual basketball performance I've ever seen. Kobe works so hard to get his points - he moves without the ball, he crosses people over, he drives to the basket - and for him to put up 81 points is incomprehensible. And he's the hardest working guy on defense as well. How did he do it? I guess I'm not really sure. He had his jump shot going from deep, he was getting some calls when he went to the basket, and yes, he took a lot of shots. The craziest thing about it was that until the very end, Kobe was getting his points in the flow of the game. The Raptors were trouncing the Lakers - Kobe started scoring because he had to, just to give his team a chance to win. And because the game was competitive, Toronto was still working on defense. In my mind, this will be the biggest sports story of 2006, unless something out of this world happens.