Young Kobe Bryant battles The Glove

The NBA in 1999 was looking for excitement, as they had just lost their most entertaining star in Michael Jordan. They found a possible replacement in a young, hungry Kobe Bryant. His swagger was unmatched, and his game mirrored His Airness.

In this April 1999 game, Kobe’s Lakers faced off against the Seattle SuperSonics, and it immediately became a game to watch as Kobe’s flair and offensive talents were met head-on by the defensive maestro himself, Gary Payton.

The prowess and artistry of Bryant’s scoring were countered at every turn by Payton’s almost superhuman defensive skills. Payton was known as one of the best and most versatile defenders in NBA history, a sideline-to-sideline specialist who, like Michael Myers, popped up everywhere and was always in your face.

His defensive ability was what the ’90s were all about: hard-nosed, never-take-a-play-off, physical defense.

Bryant, of course, also defined the era with his swagger and unrelenting will to win. So, kick back and take in this classic as we serve up the epic showdown that was Kobe Bryant vs. Gary Payton, which also featured a prime Shaquille O’Neal and a gold-haired Lakers’ Dennis Rodman.

The game started with the featured matchup. Kobe immediately tried to post the smaller Payton up, but The Glove swatted the pass away and out of bounds. Payton was showing he wasn’t going to make life easy for the young Lakers star.

Ruben Patterson would op en the scoring in the game as he tipped in a Shaq miss. For the Sonics, Hersey Hawkins drilled a three off a pass from Payton. The Big Diesel himself showed everyone why he was truly unguardable as he rattled off four quick points from a dunk and a short shot.

Kobe’s first shot attempt missed as he saw Payton stick right on him, despite Shaq trying to set him free with a screen. Kobe wouldn’t be held down for long, however.

On the Lakers’ next possession, Kobe found himself being guarded by Detlef Schrempf, and his eyes lit up. Kobe took it at Schrempf, faking him out and finishing with an up-and-under layup.

Schrempf would come back a little later and hit a baby hook in the paint, proving that he wasn’t a scrub. This Sonics team did make the NBA Finals only three years prior, so they certainly had players who could ball. This includes Hawkins, who took a pass from Payton, faked a three, and drove all the way to the basket for an easy layup.

Later, Payton took young Kobe to school by spinning right past him to finish with an easy layup. Kobe would get his revenge, however, hitting Payton with his own spin move and finishing with a huge slam dunk.

Things were looking good for the Sonics, but there was still one problem: Shaquille O’Neal.

The Sonics had no one who could guard Shaq, as the Big Fella would score 10 points in the quarter to help keep his Lakers close. The Sonics managed to keep the lead after one quarter, 27-25, thanks to a layup from Payton with one second left in the period.

Payton continued his hot play in the second quarter by hitting an early three. Kobe answered by riling up the crowd with a fast break slam dunk. Payton quickly responded with a scoop layup over Shaq.

These two stars su re were giving fans a game to remember. The remainder of the quarter belonged to Shaq and Kobe as the two made bucket after bucket, including another Kobe slam dunk, to the excitement of the crowd. Even Rodman put his name in the scoring column with two layups.

The Lakers took a 54-50 lead into the half, and by the start of the third quarter, LA looked to blow the Sonics away. Shaq and Kobe both went to work right away, Shaq connecting on two baby hook shots, while Kobe converted yet another slam dunk.

The Lakers took a 60-54 early lead in the quarter, but the Sonics would battle back, as Payton’s teammates carried the load. After Hawkins tied the game up at 60-60 with a three, Kobe went back to work, hitting a nasty crossover on Schrempf and finishing with a tough layup. Kobe was looking like a player in his prime during the third quarter.

Kobe vs. Payton

As for the savvy veteran, Payton, he was about to heat up himself. First, after turning the ball over, Payton received the ball right back and connected on a strong layup while being knocked to the floor by Rodman.

Payton followed that up by knocking down a fallaway corner three, and all of a sudden, it was the Sonics who were looking to blow the Lakers out. After an And-1 fast break bucket from Payton, the Sonics held a 78-67 lead. The crowd was stunned until the player who would play the most games alongside Kobe, Derek Fisher, hit two free throws and a big three toward the end of the quarter to cut the Sonics’ lead to 81-77 heading into the fourth.

Payton knew his Sonics blew a chance at putting the Lakers away in the third, and he was ready to swing the momentum back into Seattle’s favor with a quick reverse layup to start the final period.

The fourth quarter showcased a few things. For starters, it showed that Kobe was a year away from truly becoming a star, as the young player fell apart in the final period, scoring five points on nothing but free throws. It also showed a battle between a great player, Shaq, vs. a team game, as Payton led a balanced attack in the fourth.

First, Payton connected on a big floater down the lane over Shaq, but the Big Diesel answered back, slamming home the ball after a nice pass from Kobe. Payton would again attack Shaq in the lane, this time finishing with a finger roll over Shaq.

As mentioned, Payton led a balanced attack, and this started with Payton finding Vin Baker for a wide-open easy jumper. Payton slammed the ball home after Hawkins stole the ball, and Baker scored two more buckets in the paint, giving the Sonics a commanding 100-92 lead with 2:10 remaining.

Shaq tried his best. He dunked his way to 13 fourth-quarter points, 38 for the game. Still, the Sonics would live at the free throw line at the end of the game to hold on to the 113-109 victory. As for the duel, Kobe finished with 25 points, and Payton, not known for his scoring, had an outstanding 33 points.