81

The number is as synonymous with Kobe Bryant's career as 8 or 24.

Bryant's two decades in the NBA have been highlighted by five championships, seven Finals appearances, 15 postseason trips and too many individual awards and honors to mention. But for many, a regular-season game against the Toronto Raptors 10 years ago remains the high-water mark for one of the game's greatest players.

On Jan. 22, 2006, Bryant scored 81 points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 122-104 victory over the Raptors. Wilt Chamberlain, with his 100-point performance for the Philadelphia Warriors in 1962, is the only player to score more in a single NBA game.

The significance of the achievement isn't lost on Bryant as he traverses his 20th and final NBA season. When he wrote a letter to fans this past November announcing his retirement, the photo behind the text was of him walking off the court after scoring 81 points -- his right arm stretched high with his index finger pointing to the sky. When he introduced the "Channel the Villain/Unleash the Hero" slogan for his final season with an online video, the opening scene featured him scoring his 81st point at the free throw line.

"It's really a testament to the power of imagination, honestly," Bryant told ESPN.com earlier this month. "There's a lot of players who come up now who don't think 80 points is possible. You think 50, and if you're really hot -- 60. I never had that limit. Ever. I never, ever thought that way. I always thought 80 was possible. I thought 90 was possible. I thought 100 was possible. Always. I think that game is a testament to what happens when you put no ceiling to what you're capable of doing."

It's with that ambitious mindset that Bryant put on one of the most impressive individual displays in NBA history. This is the story of the game in which Bryant made 81 possible, as seen through the eyes of those who were a part of it.

PART I: ‘AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HIM TO BLOSSOM’

The Lakers made the playoffs in each of Bryant's first eight seasons. After they lost the 2004 NBA Finals, coach Phil Jackson left in a messy divorce and star center Shaquille O'Neal was jettisoned to the Miami Heat. The next season, Rudy Tomjanovich resigned as coach after 43 games for health reasons, and the Lakers missed the postseason for just the second time since 1976. After leaving Los Angeles, Jackson had written a book in which he characterized Bryant as "uncoachable." Still, he came back after a year away at the behest of Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, whom Jackson had been dating since 1999.

Kobe Bryant, Lakers guard, 1996-present: He [Jackson] is such a basketball genius in terms of the details of the game, the little nuances of the game and the rhythm of the game. So the game with him gets played at a much higher level than I think people understand. Players don't understand it until they experience it and play under his tutelage and [assistant coach] Tex Winter. I tried to play at that highest level with him.

Brian Shaw, Lakers assistant coach, 2005-11: The stuff Phil wrote in the book was how he felt, and some of the stuff Phil wrote in the book was how Kobe was. I think Kobe felt there was a violation of trust, and when they sat down, Phil basically said, "Can you move past it?" And Kobe said, "Yeah." From that point on, there really weren't any issues.

Jeanie Buss, Lakers executive vice president of business operations, 1999-2013; current Lakers president: You have to remember -- that season for me was all about Phil coming back. Given what had happened with Phil writing his book, I just wanted to make sure Kobe and Phil were on the same page and they were doing well. It seemed they were on the page and on the same path.

Mitch Kupchak, Lakers general manager, 1994-present: Kobe was more than willing to have Phil back on board, and he worked incredibly hard preparing for that season. We had traded Shaquille the previous year, and Kobe had a chance to spread his wings and really just find out in his mind, and our minds, too, where historically he was going to end up. He could have been happy averaging 22 points per game, but this was an opportunity for him to blossom. He wanted to show the world how great he was.

Laron Profit, Lakers guard, 2005-06; current Orlando Magic assistant coach: With Phil coming back that season, I think Kobe felt like he had something to prove. When I got traded to the Lakers from Washington that summer, I was on East Coast time, and I show up to the facility at 7 a.m. and no one is there except for Kobe, who has been there since 6 a.m. after running on the track at 5 a.m. Kobe wasn't just a great offensive player; he was a great defensive player that season. He was scoring 40 and guarding guys like Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Gilbert Arenas and Paul Pierce every night. He would tell me, "I'm going to show you why there's a clear divide between me and everyone else, because I'm going to do it on both ends."

Rasheed Hazzard, Lakers scout, 2006-11; current New York Knicks assistant coach: I got a phone call from a blocked number the day after Labor Day. It's 11 p.m., and it's Kobe, and he wanted to know if I would help him on the court at 5:30 a.m. I told him I'll be there, and I show up at 5:20 a.m. thinking I'm early, and he's already in a full sweat. He had hired a guy just to stretch him that year and to show him different ways to do active warm-ups, so he had already done that and lifted weights. He's in a full sweat 10 minutes before we're supposed to meet and ready to go. That's when I realized 5:30 a.m. meant 4:45 a.m. with Kobe. When we were done, he went and had a track workout. When he was done at the track, he had a core workout, and then I met him that night at UC Irvine to get some more shots in. I've never seen anyone work like that. His hunger to be the best is unmatched.

Ronny Turiaf, Lakers forward, 2005-08: That season, he was on a mission. He was always in the facility by himself, working out in the gym or practicing on the court. He was always the first one to show up. I don't know when he slept. He would call me at 1 or 2 in the morning to go over something and then be at the track by 5 a.m. He was dedicated to being the best player in the world.

Kobe Bryant: It sounds crazy to say -- at least I think most people would find it to be crazy -- but scoring 81 points wasn't surprising to me. I hope people don't take that as being arrogant or whatever the case may be, but you have to understand at my age at that time [27] and being in my physical prime, it wasn't surprising. Working all summer the way that I did with the track work and the conditioning work and making a thousand jumpers a day, it wasn't surprising.

PART II: ‘I'LL DO IT WHEN WE REALLY NEED IT’

A month before playing Toronto, Bryant outscored the Dallas Mavericks by himself through three quarters 62-61 (the Lakers' lead was 95-61). Bryant played only 33 minutes that night and sat out the entire fourth quarter of the Lakers' blowout win over the eventual Western Conference champions. When he was asked after the game how many points he would have finished with had he played the fourth quarter, Bryant shrugged his shoulders. "Probably 80," he said. "I was in a really, really good groove."

Brian Shaw: After the third quarter, the players were on the bench and the coaches went out and huddled on the court. Phil asked me to go ask Kobe if he wanted to stay in the game and try to get 70 and then come out. So I went up to Kobe and said, "Hey, Coach wants to know if you want to stay in for the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, get 70 and then come out." He looked up at the scoreboard, and he said, "Nah, I'll get it another time." I looked at him and I kind of got mad. I said: "What?! You have a chance to get 70 points. How many people can say they scored 70 points? Just stay in the first few minutes and get another eight points, get 70 and then come out of the game." He said: "I'll do it when we really need it. I'll get it when it really matters."

Kobe Bryant: Brian was mad. He was like: "Man, are you crazy? You know what you could score tonight?" I just said, "I'll do it when we really need it." Brian was like, "What?!" It was something that just rolled off my tongue because I trained extremely hard and the physical tools were there. I just felt like I could have a game like that again.

Jeanie Buss: I got really mad at Phil after the game on the drive home. I said, "Why did you take him out?" He said because it was a lopsided game. He said, "That's not what basketball is all about." And I said, "Yeah, but he could have set a record." I just remember being mad at Phil. I wanted him to let Kobe do whatever he wanted. It was so much fun to watch.

Phil Jackson, Lakers coach, 1999-2004, 2005-11; current New York Knicks president: I know people in [Los Angeles], particularly, like to see Kobe have a game like that; we all do. Kobe could have attacked if it was a game that was meaningful, flawless and had some competitive zest to it, but that 30-plus [lead] at that time, it wasn't meaningful.

Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner 2000-present: I remember being pissed that we really couldn't do anything to stop him. The guy outscored us by himself for three quarters. He was unbelievable.

Laron Profit: I actually came in for Kobe in the fourth quarter and tore my Achilles. I think later, [in 2013], he knew he tore his because he saw what happened to me. It was on the same spot on the floor, and our reactions were pretty similar.

John Black, Lakers vice president, public relations, 1989-present: Who knows what he could have scored if he would have played in the fourth quarter. I was happy to win, but I remember feeling bad for Kobe that it was a blowout and it wasn't a two-point game. He was so close to Elgin Baylor's franchise record of 71 points. We weren't thinking about 81; we were thinking about that record at the time.

Josh Rupprecht, Lakers manager of public relations, 2003-13; current UCLA associate athletic director, communications: That game could have been the 81-point game if he had played the fourth quarter. People like to compare those games. It's kind of like pick your favorite band. I like to bring up 62 because it's like the band no one appreciates.

Jalen Rose, Raptors forward, 2003-06; current ESPN analyst: Kobe Bryant was already erupting that year in the league. Multiple games he scored 40-plus points. A better game than the 81-point game -- that's right, because we weren't a playoff team; we weren't competitive -- was to put up 62 points in three quarters versus the Dallas Mavs, a team that went to the NBA Finals. Now, that's work.

Kobe Bryant: I felt like that the entire season. That season was a rare thing where my physical abilities matched up with the mental part of the game for me.

Brian Cook, Lakers forward, 2003-07: He was on a tear during that time. He could score whenever he wanted, and he knew nobody could stop him. The other guys on the team were just watching and learning sometimes, to be honest with you, because what was going on was so special.

Bill Macdonald, Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket broadcaster, 1985-2012; current Lakers TV play-by-play announcer: They had Kobe and a bunch of guys. We knew for them to be in any game, Kobe was going to have to go completely nuts. Who else was going to shoot on that team? Smush Parker? Chris Mihm? Kwame Brown? It's crazy what we took for normal that season.

Mychal Thompson, Lakers radio analyst, 2003-present: It was a team that really wasn't going anywhere that year, and Kobe made it interesting to come to the arena every night. You knew if he got in one of the zones, anything could happen.

Mitch Kupchak: It was the second year of a rebuild and the first year of Phil's return, so we were still finding our way as a team. It was an adjustment with a lot of new players. We were clearly in the rebuild, and we needed everything that Kobe could give us. It wasn't always good enough, but he had a heck of a year. From an entertainment point of view, it was incredible. You knew you were watching something unique that year.

Laron Profit: Phil knew what Kobe could do, but he also wanted to emphasize team. I remember we were at a practice session one day watching film, and Kobe was shooting a lot of shots in the game -- I mean, a lot of shots -- and Phil paused the film. He told this story about Miles Davis and John Coltrane being in the studio one time, and Coltrane goes off on a solo, just an unbelievable solo, and at the end of it, Miles says, "Hey, man, sometimes you have to know when to put that s--- down." His reference was to Kobe having to sometimes pass the ball, but the way he said it had us crying laughing. We all knew what he was saying.

Luke Walton, Lakers forward, 2003-12, current Golden State Warriors interim head coach: We all know what Phil wanted to do, but Kobe was also the best player in the world. When he got into a zone, which was often that season, there wasn't anything defenses could do to stop him. He would take over games when the rest of us were struggling, but that was never the plan at the beginning of games. It just happened naturally.

Spero Dedes, Lakers radio play-by-play announcer, 2005-11: That was my first season with the team. I was 26 at the time, and I'm barely two months into the job and he would go on these scoring binges that were mind-numbing in a way. It was the first and only time I considered buying one of those pocket thesauruses because I was running out of superlatives for what he was doing. I'm not even trying to be cute. I almost bought it. You just didn't know what you were going to see that night or how you were going to describe it. It was challenging.

Kobe Bryant: On that team, that season, more games than not I had to take over, but I didn't go into any game with an agenda. I was just reading the flow and seeing what's happening. That's basically what happened against Toronto.