After a huge buildup, the Los Angeles Lakers were being routed by Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards early in the third quarter.
Embarrassed, but not discouraged.
"Not at all," Bryant said after the Lakers rallied for a 103-94 victory over the Wizards on Tuesday night after trailing by as many as 20 points in the second half. "We're fighting, we're world champs.
"People see us having these gold uniforms on and think we're soft. I looked at that as a chance to show the world what we could do. I'm going to fight until the final buzzer goes off, for 48 minutes."
Bryant scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half, and also had 11 rebounds and a career-high 15 assists for his third NBA triple-double.
His effort, along with the Lakers' huge second half, made Phil Jackson the winner in his first game coaching against Jordan.
"I did not know what happened in the first half, we kind of stumbled around," Jackson said. "I guess desperation is the answer to our playing basketball tonight."
The Lakers took command by outscoring the Wizards 43-11 to turn a 63-43 deficit with 7:50 left in the third quarter into an 86-74 lead with 8:03 remaining in the fourth.
The Wizards, who had their five-game winning streak snapped, didn't threaten after that.
"This is definitely a lesson for us, we're not quite in their league yet," said Jordan, who led the Wizards with 22 points, five rebounds and six assists. "We folded under their pressure -- and that's what championship teams do to you.
"We just lost our composure, and I'm a part of that. Defensively, Phil took options out of our game which open up things for me. If anyone knows my game, Phil knows my game."
After leaving the interview room, Jordan went directly to Jackson's office.
Bryant shot 9-of-20 and, just as he promised, got his teammates involved -- especially in the third period. And when it came time to score, he scored.
With a little over a minute to play and the Lakers leading 97-89, Bryant hit from outside over Jordan, drawing one of the loudest cheers of the night from the Staples Center crowd of 18,997. Jordan left the game for good a few seconds later.
Jackson coached the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls to six championships in an eight-year span before both left that team in 1998. Jackson took a year off before becoming coach of the Lakers, and Jordan ended his retirement this season.
