It's all good news for La La Land as the Los Angeles Lakers avoided surpassing the franchise record of 10th straight loss on a vintage performance by the retiring Kobe Bryant.
The Black Mamba even came out on top when a young upstart, Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins, tried to challenge him into a shootout as the 37-year-old scored 38 points against the 20-year-old's 30 points.
His young teammates, and even the opponents, were effusive with praise for the ageless one.
"It was just another Mamba moment to add to the collection," rookie D'Angelo Russell remarked. "It should be a museum of just Mamba moments."
Julius Randle, meanwhile, wondered, "Some of the shots, it's just like: How do you make it?"
Aside from scoring 38 points on 10-21 shooting and seven three-pointers, he also added five rebounds and five assists.
Of course, Kobe Bryant remains oh so humble.
"You've seen me for 20 damn years. What do you expect?" he laughed. "It feels good to make those shots."
Timberwolves coach Sam Mitchell meanwhile said with a straight face, "I hate him. If I don't ever see him again, it will be too soon. I hate him."
Mitchell saw all these before. He was the coach of the Toronto Raptors when Kobe Bryant exploded for 81 points, the second most in NBA history behind only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 points.
With the victory, the Lakers improved its record to 10-41. More importantly, it managed to avoid exceeding the previous mark of 10th straight losses, which is a franchise record.
According to news reports, the Los Angeles Lakers is the only team in the league that have not achieved the dubious mark of 11 straight losses.
"The worst mark in franchise history is 19 victories, set by the 1957-58 team in Minneapolis," reported Sports Illustrated. "The team's worst mark in Los Angeles is 21. It remains unclear what Bryant has left, but observers can, at the very least, cling to nights like these."
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