20 years later, Luke Walton reflects on Kobe Bryant's 'unbelievable' 81-point game

Coty M. Davis, The Detroit News on Jan 21, 2026

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DETROIT — Detroit Pistons assistant coach Luke Walton remembers looking up at the Staples Center scoreboard, wondering if it was "broken." The moment came with four seconds left in the Los Angeles Lakers' 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006.

Walton had just greeted Kobe Bryant with a fist bump in celebration of his latest accomplishment. Bryant had scored a career-high 81 points on 28-of-46 shooting from the field, 7-of-13 shooting on 3-pointers and 18-of-20 shooting on free throws. He scored 55 points in the second half. Bryant's performance marked the second-most points in NBA history — a mark that still stands 20 years later.

"I remember that the game started kind of slow, and we were just doing our thing. We were not having a great night offensively, and then he just started taking over," Walton told The Detroit News. "Once he started cooking, there was nothing anyone in the world could do to stop him. It was amazing."

Thursday is the 20th anniversary of Bryant's spectacular performance and Walton, a teammate of Bryant's that season, played 14 minutes in that game.

"The thing about this was, it was a close game," Walton said. "This wasn't an All-Star Game where we were all going nuts. We were out there competing to win. It wasn't until late in the fourth when we got the sense of how incredible this was. ... I went home after the game and watched it over again. I watched as a fan, going crazy. It was one of the most impressive things I've ever seen in my life."

The Lakers selected Walton in the second round of the 2003 NBA draft. He played nine of his 11 years in Los Angeles and witnessed many of Bryant's impressive scoring performances.

A month prior, Walton played 22 minutes in a game where Bryant scored 62 points in three quarters in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Dec. 20. Walton believes he could have scored 80 or more points then, but Bryant refused to check back in the game after the Lakers had built a 95-61 lead entering the fourth.

As his teammate for three seasons, Walton understood the signs of when Bryant got into a zone. During Bryant's 81-point performance, however, Walton said it unfolded unexpectedly.

"Playing with him, you see him get into those moments a lot, but this just happened, more so in the second half," Walton said. "When he got into that zone, everyone knew, 'Don't shoot that ball. Let the offense work until it gets back around to Kobe.' It was unbelievable."

Walton was scoreless in that game against the Raptors but contributed three rebounds and two blocks. During the postgame celebration, Walton was among several teammates who asked Bryant to sign a box score and a family member's ticket stub.

Bryant ended the 2005-06 season averaging 35.4 points per game. It marked the first of two consecutive scoring championships for Bryant, as he produced the 10th-highest single-season scoring average in league history.

The 81-point game is one of several prominent memories Walton has of playing alongside Bryant. Among the renowned scoring performances and championships, however, the life lessons Walton took from Bryant made being his teammate even more unforgettable.

"What made him so special was his work ethic. What he did every single day, I learned how not to put limitations on anything, and that's how he lived his life," Walton said. "From playing basketball or whatever, in life, if you are willing to outwork other people, you can accomplish anything. What limitations other people put on you are not real. That was the best lesson I took from being around him."