Midway through the 2000-01 season, the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers had a solid record, but they were struggling (by their lofty standards), and perhaps the biggest reason was health.
Most members of the team hadn’t reported to training camp in shape, while Derek Fisher was out for most of the season and Shaquille O’Neal sat out six straight games in late January and early February.
With the team’s dominant center out, Kobe Bryant needed to step up, and step up he did.
The Lakers took on the Charlotte Hornets, a solid, playoff-bound team, on Feb.