Bryant surprised Scott during game

But then an announcement blared over the loudspeaker as the Atlanta Hawks soon played a minute-long video on their scoreboard on Friday at Philips Arena. Before the halftime break, Atlanta led by as many as nineteen points, and much of the time between the second and third quarters was spent lamenting the sheer presence of the Lakers on the court. “We were thinking about beating the Lakers and getting a win”. During that spurt, Mike Scott scored eight points in a matter of minutes, and the Hawks were able to take advantage of a defensively inept opponent in a big way. Instead, the Lakers (3-16) failed to start a winning streak against Atlanta (13-9), which featured double-digit efforts from Al Horford (16 points), Paul Millsap (15), Kent Bazemore (15), Lamar Patterson (14) and Jeff Teague (13). Lou Williams finished as the highest scorer in the game with 18 points off the Lakers’ bench.

D’Angelo Russell had his first-career double-double, an atypical one for a point guard – 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks, though, outscored the Lakers 13-4 to end the game.

He again emphatically said he would never be a coach and also said he wasn’t interested in being a general manager. “It’s hard when you let yourself get down like that”.

Clarkson seemed to be the key to the Lakers’ ball movement in the third quarter, and made 4-of-5 shots and all three of his 3-point attempts in the third period.

After the game ended, Bryant walked to midcourt to give a smile and a hug to Kyle Korver, a 13th-year veteran, in an exchange of mutual admiration. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t pull it out”.

Bryant, 37, who announced retirement last Sunday, said during a Los Angeles Lakers’s National Basketball Association game, “I’d like to thank Leo”.

“I didn’t feel as lively as I did in the last game”, he said after scoring 14 points and blaming his increasingly uncooperative legs.

The Lakers missed their last five field goal attempts and committed five of their 16 turnovers in the final 4:46, after Bryant’s 16-footer cut the Hawks’ lead to four.

Aside from being a league MVP, the 27-year-old second overall pick of the 2007 draft is a six-time All-Star, 2012 All-Star game MVP, five-time All-NBA First Teamer, 2008 Rookie of the Year awardee, and four-time NBA scoring champion, credentials that are deemed to be enough to replace Kobe in Hollywood’s limelight.

Coming into tonight’s career finale against Atlanta, Bryant averaged 22.6 points per game in 28 outings vs Atlanta.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly setting its sights on Oklahoma City superstar Kevin Durant when his contract expires next summer.