The Season When Kobe Was INCAPABLE Of Missing A Game Winner...

In 2010, Kobe Bryant was incapable of missing a game winner. If there was a clutch player of the year award back in the day, it would have definitely gone to Kobe. Fresh off of winning his 4th championship ring, the Black Mamba was still hungry for blood, and the killing spree started in December against D-Wade and the Miami Heat. Kobe had just 8 points at the half, but heated up in the right time, hitting some ridiculous shots in the 4th quarter. Regardless, Dwayne Wade was just as good, and with 12 of his 26 points in the final frame, put the Heat up by 2 in the clutch. So, with the entire arena on its feet and 3.2 seconds on the clock, the Lakers needed a hero. Bryant gets away from the double team, almost loses the ball before he checks the clock, and fires away a one-legged off-balance three over the outstretched arms of Wade to bury the Heat at the buzzer. This remains one of the toughest game-winning buzzer beaters in NBA history. He finished the game with 33 points, 17 of which came in the last period. Two weeks later, the Lakers were in Milwaukee visiting the Bucs, and Kobe made them dance right from the jump. Besides scoring, Bryant dished out some beautiful dimes to Bynum and Gasol in this one, but in the 4th quarter, he returned to what he does best. His footwork was second to none, and he found Derek Fisher in stride who hit the go-ahead bucket with 30 seconds left in regulation. However, Andrew Bogan on the other end wrestled down with Powell and somehow was able to squeeze out the end one, but he missed the additional free throw, leaving Kobe a lot of time and space to operate. And the Lakers fell down by 6 points with little over a minute to play when the Black Mamba finally woke up. He gets the circus shot to drop and makes the free throw ever so calmly. Michael Redd on the other side came up short with the lefty floater, leaving 5.4 seconds on the clock for Kobe's second chance. At this point, everyone in the building knows who's taking the last shot, and the Bucks leave Charlie Bell alone with Kobe once again. Bryant makes them pay for letting him take the same exact shot twice, and he even said that in the walk-off interview. Boy, did he redeem himself in the best way possible, and the Sacramento Kings got the best out of Kobe on the first day of the new year. After a quiet 12-point first half, KB24 went berserk in the third quarter, scoring 16 on 3 of 4 shooting from downtown. But the Lakers were still trailing by 7 points at the start of the fourth, so he had to keep his foot on the gas pedal at all times. He continued torching the Kings from everywhere on the court, racking up 27 of his 39 points in the second half. But despite all that, the Lakers were looking dead in the water, especially after they sent Ima Yudoka to the line for 2 free throws with less than 5 seconds remaining. Before becoming a coach, Yudoka played 7 seasons in the NBA and was a solid 70% free throw shooter. But he lets his nerves reach him, he misses both shots, giving LA one last hope. This was just nasty work by the mamba getting the ball right in front of the Kings bench and swishing yet another game winner at the buzzer. Unbelievable. And just 2 weeks later against the Mavs in Dallas, he did it again. This wasn't a game winner technically cause after the miss by Josh Howard on the other end, Jordan Farmer set up the final score hitting his 2 free throws. Still another game deciding shot by the Cobster. And to round off a perfect month of January in what turned out to be a foretelling for the 2010 NBA Finals, Kobe crushed the hearts of Celtics fans when… Allen played phenomenal defense but it didn't matter cause Bryan could do this in his sleep. Ray Ray got a chance for redemption at the end but his 3 pointer missed the target and the Lakers hung on to win the game. Against the Grizzlies on the road, it was mission impossible all over again. Kobe was hitting all sorts of shots in the final period to tie the game with 50 seconds to go. But Memphis was in a far better situation at the end as OJ Mayo was headed to the line with a chance to seal the deal. However, he coughed them both out giving the Black Mamba 8 seconds to inject his venom. A certified killer. Mayo did have a chance to avenge himself at the end but just like Ray Allen, he missed the shot at the buzzer. And another close win was in the books for LA. And we saw the same scenario against the Raptors as well. The Lakers trailing in the Bryan puts his team up by 4 with his 30th point of the night but Toronto had an answer. Chris Bosh ties the game leaving 9 seconds on the clock which is a whole eternity for a legend of Kobe's caliber. Let's roll. The poor Raptors had to be Kobe's favorite team to beat. He annihilated them every time they met. This was Mamba's 7th game winner of the 2009-2010 regular season, a record which no one else has beaten ever since. To complete his destiny, Bryan proceeded to win his 5th NBA title against the nemesis, the Boston Celtics. But believe it or not, with the great help of Sasha Vujicic. So much so that if it wasn't for Sasha's clutch heroics in Game 7, the confetti might've been green that night. Click right here to see exactly why that is and I'll talk to you in the next one. Peace out.