On this day in 2006, Kobe Bryant recorded one of the single-greatest performances in basketball history, scoring 81 points in the Lakers' 122-104 comeback victory over the Raptors.
Bryant's scoring outburst ranks as the second-highest in a single NBA game, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 in 1962.
Looking back 19 years later, the Herculean feat remains just as astonishing as it did that day. But even more than the counting stats from that game, the reactions from those in the building and watching at home serve to elevate the performance.
Specifically, it’s the near-universal desire to collect the moment, which began the moment the final buzzer sounded, that shows the pervasive nature of memorabilia as a vehicle for memory, expression and celebration.
Shooting 28-for-46 from the field with seven 3-pointers and sinking 18 of 20 free throws, Bryant’s outpouring is arguably the signature game of his career.
Even more impressive, he finished the first half with just 26 points as the Lakers trailed 63-49 at the break, but Bryant exploded for 27 in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth.
Everyone in the arena and beyond knew they were witnessing history — and fans and athletes alike knew they would want something to remember the moment.
David Kohler, founder of SCP Auctions and one of, if not the, largest collectors of Lakers memorabilia in the world, wasn’t at the game that day. But he remembers where he was with perfect clarity.
While Bryant muscled his way into the record books, Kohler was at a baseball camp in Phoenix. As soon as he heard the news, he couldn’t wait to race home and watch SportsCenter for highlights.
“It just started resonating immediately,” Kohler told cllct. “You think about Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points and if you would have had a chance to collect something from that … and all these things go through your mind.”
Lakers P.A. announcer Lawrence Tanter told the crowd after the game, "Ladies and gentlemen, please keep your ticket stubs as proof that you've witnessed this remarkable evening."
Tanter told ESPN he took home a copy of the scorebook, recalling the official scorer was struggling to input all the numbers. “It's just not big enough. His scorebook looked like a Parcheesi board,” Tanter told ESPN. “I kept saying, "John, write smaller.’”
John Rupprecht, who worked for Lakers public relations at the time, told ESPN, “I know there are a lot of people who say they were at that game that weren't at that game because, when it was over, people were calling our ticket office asking for stubs.”
More than 150 full tickets from the game have since been graded by PSA, as well as 27 signed tickets. One ticket, signed by Bryant and given a perfect 10 autograph grade, sold for $14,400 at Goldin in June 2022.
NBA.com reported teammates and staff were asking Bryant to sign copies of the box score after the game.
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Lakers forward Brian Cook said he thinks everyone saved the box score, including him: “I got a couple of box scores from the game, and I got him to sign them,” he told ESPN.
Scoresheets from the game remain a coveted collector’s item from that day, despite the fact that a seemingly large quantity were saved and signed (not to mention many have been printed after the fact).
One scoring sheet signed by Bryant sold at Goldin Auctions in 2020 for nearly $19,680.
Lakers teammate Devean George told ESPN, “We were all getting texts and calls from family and friends after the game. They were asking for signed shoes, signed box scores, something. We were still coming to grips with what we had just seen. I had him sign a pair of shoes. It's sitting on my mantel.”
The Hall of Fame requested Bryant’s uniform and shoes. But Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, convinced him otherwise. “[T]he uniform is framed and up in the gym in our house,” Bryant told ESPN. His sneakers went to the Hall of Fame.
Though Bryant's jersey and shoes have never hit the auction block, Kohler bought the next best thing: His shooting shirt worn during the game (as well as other contests that season) for $277,200 in 2022, though he has since sold it.
One thing Kohler hasn’t sold — nor spoken about publicly until today — is the net from the game, which he acquired from a source affiliated with the team around five years ago.
Kohler isn’t surprised by the collectibility of Bryant’s 81-point game. “That's just how it works with any of these championship games or milestone games,” he said of his chase for artifacts associated with the legendary moment. “People love this stuff.”
Plenty of manufactured limited-edition pieces have sold for hefty sums as well, such as a display numbered to 81 featuring a ticket from the game and a signed Bryant jersey, one of which sold for more than $17,000 at Goldin last month.
A Bryant-signed basketball, also limited to 81, sold for more than $11,700 at Goldin in 2023.
All these items, whether taken from the court after the game, purchased as memorabilia in the years since or snagged at auction or on eBay, keep the historic day alive today.
After the game, Bryant told reporters it hadn’t sunk in yet. “It turned into something special. To sit here and say I grasp what happened, that would be lying.”
It wasn’t until 2013 when Bryant first watched a replay of the game. “I can’t believe I’ve never watched this game till now,” Bryant tweeted. He posted his way through his rewatch, writing that he “could have had 100 pts!” if it wasn’t for the “easy shots he missed and that the game was the first and only time his grandmother watched him play as a pro.”
Maybe by then he had finally taken it all in.
One thing is certain: Collectors have been taking in that magical night at the Staples Center in the form of ticket stubs and autographs for nearly two decades.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.