"‘I’ll race you home.’": Bill Macdonald recalls Kobe Bryant beating him in a car '50 times better than his'
Bill Macdonald is the longtime play-by-play announcer for the LA Lakers. In that span, he's had numerous encounters with some of the game's top stars. Macdonald recently opened up on one of his favorite Kobe Bryant stories.
While sitting down with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina, Bill Macdonald opened up on a time he was on the opposing side of Kobe's competitive nature. Knowing they lived in the same area, the former MVP challenged the announcer home. Macdonald made sure to let it be known that Kobe was driving in a much nicer car.
Kobe ends up breaking away to a big lead but gets caught in traffic. This allowed Macdonald to catch up and have a good laugh with the LA Lakers star.
"Kobe looks at me and says, ‘I’ll race you home.’ Kobe is the most competitive guy in the world. But I’m like, ‘All right; let’s go.’ I don’t remember what car he had, but his car was probably 50 times better than mine and more powerful," Macdonald said. "He gets out and gets a big lead. I lose him and don’t know where he is."
"Traffic has stopped...I make sure he sees me, and I give him the finger [laughs] and say, ‘Kobe, I’m going to beat you!’ [laughs]. He’s howling in the car."
Despite Macdonald catching up, Kobe still found a way to beat him home.
Bill Macdonald called one of Kobe Bryant's most iconic games
During his 20 years in the NBA, Kobe Bryant had an array of special performances. That said, there are a handful that stand out above the rest.
As the play-by-play announcer for the Lakers, Bill Macdonald had a front-row seat to one of the top offensive performances in league history. That was when Kobe Bryant erupted for 81 points against the Toronto Raptors.
In the sport of basketball, one record many feel will never be broken is Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. To this day, Kobe is still the closest to overcoming that incredible feat.
The Lakers ended up winning by 18 points that night, in large part because of Kobe's offensive barrage. He played 42 minutes against the Raptors en route to having the second-highest-scoring game ever.
Toronto did everything they could to slow Kobe down, but he was too locked in. He had a great night shooting the ball, shooting over 60% from the field on an insane 46 attempts. Kobe also knocked down 90% of his free throws and hit seven three-pointers.