By admin 
When people discuss 3-point shooting, sharpshooters like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Damian Lillard are the players who immediately come to mind. After all, these were players who helped redefine the game with their long-distance shooting. But long before any of these players even joined the NBA and set 3-point records left and right, nobody would have guessed who held the mark for most triples made in a single game: Kobe Bean Bryant.
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Unconscious from a long distance
As prolific a scorer as Kobe was, one area of the court where he was mediocre was beyond the arc, shooting only 32.9 percent from that area in his 20-year career. However, he was on fire from long distance during the 2002-03 season, as he proved on January 7, 2003, in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics.
While Kobe sans the 3-point shot was already a tough cover, his swishing one trey after another put him in unstoppable territory. On that night, the 6’6″ shooting guard was unconscious from the outside, making 12 3-pointers in a 45-point explosion that helped the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sonics, 119-98.
Kobe Bryant torched the Seattle Sonics with 12 3-pointers! (2003) pic.twitter.com/0Nu9VfMPbC
— ThrowbackHoops (@ThrowbackHoops) October 12, 2022
Kobe’s shooting was otherworldly, that, at one point, he made nine in a row. His previous career-high was only five. His 12 made 3-pointers shattered the mark (11) that was previously held by Dennis Scott. The Lakers superstar said he felt so confident in his shot that even the misses felt good.
“It’s hard to describe. You just feel so confident. You get your feet set and get a good look at the basket – it’s going in,” he stressed. “Even the ones I missed I thought were going in.”
Kobe’s scintillating performance even impressed his head coach, Phil Jackson – not an easy feat, given what he had witnessed while coaching the GOAT, Michael Jordan.
“That was perhaps the greatest streak shooting I have ever seen in my life,” Jackson emphasized.
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Kobe’s teammate, Brian Shaw, an equally gifted outside shooter, was also mesmerized by the shooting display.
“They weren’t hitting anything; they were just going straight in. Nothing but net,” he said.
Related: “Kobe’s the greatest player on the planet” – Gregg Popovich held Kobe Bryant in high regard ahead of their 2008 WCF matchup
Motivated by a jab from a reporter
As mentioned, the only weakness in Kobe’s game was his inconsistent 3-point shot – something that wasn’t lost on Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers. He shared that before that game, he spoke to Kobe during the shootaround to discuss that aspect of his game. During the course of their conversation, he gave Kobe a playful jab.
“I went down to the court before one game, stood on the court with Kobe while he was warming up and said, ‘You’re one of the crummiest three-point shooters I have ever seen,’” Simers recalled. “Let me bring my daughter out, she’s a high school three-point shooter, and let her give you a lesson so that you can hit some threes.’”
Kobe may have smiled and laughed after hearing that comment, but little did the reporter know that it had lit a fire under the Lakers’ wingman. This was evident as after he reset the record books, he told T.J., “Tell your daughter about that!”
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This story was originally published September 14, 2026 at 12:17 AM.