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              NBA's Kobe Bryant Scores 60 Points in Farewell Game

   by VOA News

   Kobe Bryant played the final game of his legendary 20-year career with
   the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday
   night.

   The 37-year-old Bryant scored a season-high 60 points to rally the
   Lakers from a 15-point deficit to a 101-96 victory over the visiting
   Utah Jazz at Staples Center in front of thousands of fans -- including
   Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson -- who paid thousands of dollars a
   ticket for a chance to witness Bryant's last game wearing the Lakers's
   purple-and-gold uniform.

   Bryant -- who told the crowd after the game that he "grew up a die-hard
   Laker fan" -- spent his entire 20 years with the storied franchise, the
   longest stretch any player has spent with one team in NBA history.

   The Hall-of-Fame career of the man known as "The Black Mamba" includes
   five NBA championships -- including three consecutive titles between
   2000-2002 -- and two consecutive Finals most valuable player awards. He
   also played in 18 straight All-Star games, and was named the league's
   most valuable player for the 2007-08 season.

   He is third on the NBA's all-time scoring list, one notch above the
   legendary Michael Jordan.  His 33,643 points included 25 games in which
   he scored at least 50 points, and six where he scored at least 60
   points, including Wednesday's farewell performance.  Bryant's most
   memorable game was an 81-point scoring night against the Toronto
   Raptors.

   He also has two Olympic gold medals, playing on the United States team
   in 2008 and 2012.

   But Bryant's career was nearly derailed in 2003 when a young woman in
   Colorado accused him of rape.  Prosecutors charged him sexual assault
   and false imprisonment, but the charges were dropped after his accuser
   decided not to testify.
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   arewell-game/3285235.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/nba-kobe-bryant-scores-60-points-in-farewell-game/3285235.html