Amityville's Mike James on playing against Kobe Bryant: 'He was special'

It was one of Kobe Bryant’s most iconic moments, and Mike James wasn't happy about it.

James, a 1993 Amityville High School graduate who played 12 years in the NBA, was on the wrong side of history on Jan. 22, 2006. That's the night Bryant scored 81 points in the Lakers' 122-104 victory over the Raptors at the Staples Center.

Bryant's brilliant performance remains the second-highest single-game point total in NBA history, behind only Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. 

“I absolutely hated that game,” said James, with a laugh. “I was not impressed at all with that 81. I’ve never wanted to talk about it. I couldn’t believe that my teammates allowed this. When he had like 50, I said, ‘Man, let me guard him.’ [Coach Sam Mitchell] said, ‘No, Mike, I don’t want you to get in foul trouble.' I said, ‘Are you serious? You’re worried about me right now?’ ”

James was the second-highest scorer that night with 26 points.

“If you watch how Kobe played in that game, he played like a madman,” said James, who lives in Houston, where he owns a construction company and manages professional boxer Jerrico Walton. “Something was in his eyes. Even in the first half, even though he was missing a lot of shots, his relentlessness was different in this game. I don’t really know what it was, but you can see it.”

James said that while he was furious at the time, it no longer bothers him.

“I really don’t remember the game unless I watch it,” James said.

James played on 11 teams from 2001-2014 and spent one season in Turkey. He was on the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons, who beat Bryant’s Lakers in the NBA Finals.

James, like the rest of the sports world, was hit hard by the news of Bryant’s death Sunday afternoon. The NBA legend, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, were killed in a helicopter crash in California.

“It really does remind you of how short life is and to love those who are close to you, embrace your loved ones and those that are alive,” James said. “I know everyone has to mourn, but tomorrow is not promised to no one. We don’t know how long we’re here and we have to figure out how to live a purposeful life. I think that’s the most important thing.”

James said he did not have a relationship with Bryant off the court, but certainly knew him on a competitive level, trying to guard that patented fadeaway under the bright lights of the sport’s highest level.

“He was special,” James said. “He’s not going to miss too many times and it’s only you trying to contain him. You never really guard him. That’s the main thing, not fouling him, not putting him on the free-throw line to give him an extra two points, but at the same time, putting a hand in his face and hoping that he missed. He’s worked on that [fadeaway] shot so many times, there’s really nothing you can do about it."