Chris Bosh believed Kobe could have scored 100 points during the 81-point game: “You find yourself watching even though you're in the game”

Kobe Bryant had the world watching when he had a fantastic performance against the Toronto Raptors on January 22, 2006. He scored 81 points for the Lakers, who pulled off a comeback and then pulled away to a 122-104 victory.

Even if he was on the Raptors, All-Star player Chris Bosh was in awe of Bryant's all-time performance, even saying Kobe could have reached Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point record. It remains the highest-scoring game in the 21st century and has proven to be one of the most iconic performances in NBA history.

"I was a young fella in that game, taking a beating man. Yeah, it was surreal. Once you realize it's too late, and it's Kobe, I just remember running down the court and I kept looking at the screen, and it's like his score was multiplying," Bosh said on The Dan Patrick Show in 2021. "Everybody's laughing except for Kobe who had the eye of the tiger. It was an incredible performance, it was one of those things you find yourself watching even though you're in the game."

Bosh was smug about Dallas giving Kobe 62 in three quarters

One month earlier, in December 2005, Kobe had another legendary performance against the Dallas Mavericks. It was such a fantastic night for Kobe that he out-scored the entire Mavericks after three quarters, 62 to 61. He had such a good game that the Lakers felt comfortable sitting him down for the rest of the team.

It was a polarizing decision because people wanted to see what Kobe could do while in that zone. Bosh and his teammates joked around the locker room about Dallas giving up that many points, but they did not know that Bryant would have an even better game against Toronto.

"I was looking at that game saying, 'What in the world are they doing? How do you let this guy score 62 in three quarters? That's atrocious.' Got smashed the next month. It was crazy, man," Bosh continued on The Dan Patrick Show.

It came to a point that the Raptors felt bad for Jalen Rose, who was trying his best to defend the silent Kobe , but to no avail. Kobe and Jalen had fun with that game, as they had a scene about it on the Jalen vs Everybody TV movie.

Kobe had a legendary run in January 2006

Kobe's 81-point performance was the biggest highlight, but he had an entire month full of highlights. During that stellar month, Kobe averaged 43.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists across 13 games.

That was the most remarkable single-month stretch Kobe ever had because he was scoring at an unreal rate. Any defender who tried to match up got cooked because Kobe was always in the zone. Scoring 81 was the highest point, but the lowest total was 34 points, proving that Kobe was on fire for the entirety of January.

Unfortunately for Bosh and the rest of the Raptors roster, they took the brunt of an all-time performance. It was a crushing loss after leading for most of the game, but it was a legendary Kobe performance, and it was challenging to beat him when he's in that kind of zone. It might have been an embarrassing loss, but Bosh and his Raptors teammates appreciated the talent and effort it took to have that historic performance.

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