The budding star went head-to-head with the NBA legend whom he modeled much of his game after. Both players topped 30 points in a duel between generational shooting guards.
That was on Dec. 17, 1997 — but it happened again on Feb. 2, 2016 with one original cast member.
Eighteen years after Kobe Bryant racked up 33 points in a losing effort against his childhood idol, Michael Jordan, the Lakers icon found himself on the other side of the script by turning back Andrew Wiggins on Tuesday night.
Bryant scored 38 points — including 14 of his team’s final 18 — to lead the Lakers to victory despite 30 points from Wiggins.
“He’s the greatest of my generation,” Wiggins said after the game. “He perfected the game of basketball.”
That crossover of generations lasted for only five games. Wiggins won three of his meetings with Bryant, but averaged only 11.8 points before finally showing the future Hall of Famer his ceiling on Tuesday.
Like Bryant in 1997, Wiggins couldn’t top the established veteran.
“He still takes a challenge against a young stud like Wiggins,” head coach Byron Scott said. “He wants to guard guys like that. He wants that competition.”
That legacy of competition can be encapsulated by that game when a 19-year-old Bryant couldn’t will his team to victory against Jordan’s 36-point effort.
Much like how Bryant incorporated several of Jordan’s moves into his own game, Wiggins backed down the 20-year veteran to hit Bryant’s patented shot — a fadeaway jumper — over the Laker himself in the fourth quarter.
After the play, he was even caught on camera telling Bryant, “I got that from you.”
“I was very impressed with his turnaround in the post,” Bryant said. “His first year he came in the league, he was off-balance with it, exposing the ball too much. Now that one — it was textbook. Hid the ball well, elevated well, faded well. I was impressed.”
And, of course, the 20-year-old also left impressed by Bryant’s throwback effort.
“He always brings it every night,” Wiggins said. “He makes tough shots. He’s just Kobe.”
