Description

You are looking at a ticket stub for the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks which took place on March 26, 1997 at the Forum. This was career game #59 for Kobe Bryant and the fourth start of his career. As stated by Kobe to the reporters in the quote below, Kobe got his first NBA scar in the game. Pretty cool for a guy known to play through nearly anything short of an absolutely debilitating injury. Here is an excellent account of the game from columnist Andrew Baggarly: "The Lakers believe Kobe Bryant will be a star in the NBA, but they know he's just 18 years old. Patience, patience. With three starters out, Lakers coach Del Harris was forced to start Bryant on Wednesday against Milwaukee. The guard responded with a 19-point effort, two shy of his career high, as the Lakers took a l06-84 victory before a sellout Forum crowd of 17,505. Combined with Seattle's home loss to Phoenix, the victory moved the Lakers two games behind the SuperSonics for the Western Conference's No. 2 spot and one-half game ahead of Houston for the third position. "Its the best game Kobe's played all year." Harris said. "His defense on (Bucks guard) Ray Allen was very good." Bryant held Allen, the Bucks' flashy rookie, to just six points on 3-of-13 shooting. Bryant also handed out four assists and hit two three-pointers; he turned the ball over only once. "I'm trying to work on taking my time and visualizing what will happen." Bryant said. "I'm understanding more the concept of what we're trying to do defensively." Bryant didn't have time to prepare mentally for a starting role. Just before to the game, trainers determined Eddie Jones' bruised left shin was severe enough to require a day's rest. Jones will travel with the team, but his status for today's game at Vancouver has not been determined. Bryant found he had to fill in two minutes before the team's pregame meeting. "I got my first NBA scar," Bryant grinned, showing off a purple gash on his left shoulder. "I was going up for a rebound and felt a little scratch. Call me Freddy Krueger." For Travis Knight, recent games have been a different horror story. More like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. But the past three games, Knight appears to be shaking off a month-long slump. Where exactly was Knight the past month? "I don't know, but I don't want to go back there," he said. The rookie center had nine points and 10 rebounds Wednesday, and he helped shut down Bucks forward Vin Baker. Baker scored 10 points in the first quarter, but a tandem of Knight, Fontana High School graduate Sean Rooks and Corie Blount helped neutralize the Bucks' main scoring threat. "Corie stepped up and buckled down," Knight said. "Then Sean and his big body came in and got the job done." Elden Campbell scored a game-high 31 points for the Lakers." Please take a look at the scans for condition - this ticket is a little wavy which is tough to pick out from the scans. I have been a long time ticket collector and will be posting many additional tickets in the coming weeks. The item you see pictured is the actual item you will receive. Feel free to email me with any questions. I will ship for free anywhere in the United States.