Watch: Kobe Bryant's 2 clutch 3-pointers leave Blazers announcers speechless for 26 seconds
Kobe Bryant was a basketball icon and synonymous with the 'Mamba Mentality' he inspired. A key element of this mentality involved the ability to rise up to any moment, something Bryant epitomized during the course of his lifetime.
No footage possible stands as better proof than his showing in 2004 against the Portland Trailblazers.
The Blazers, being a Western Conference side, have been on the end of many a Mamba moment. But in a regular-season meeting in April 2004, Bryant delivered a masterclass in clutch play at Portland, leaving the announcers silent for 26 seconds.
The Lakers were down 3 in regular time when Bryant delivered his first dagger three. And if one thought that was good enough, Bryant did an encore to silence the Portland crowd and announcers yet again. This time, in double overtime, to seal the game.
The Blazer crowd was probably looking for some reprieve and any win against the Lakers would have been heavily celebrated after the events of 2000. Seeing Kobe hit a dagger and celebrate with his trademark scowl would certainly have been a traumatic experience for them.
The Blazers lost in Game 7 of the 2000 NBA Western Conference Finals to Kobe Bryant & Shaquille O'Neal-led Lakers.
In the NBAs all-time list of iconic moments, the Shaq and Kobe alley-oop that sealed the Western Conference title in 2000 for the Lakers is a perennial fixture.
It represents the most dominant duo in NBA history at arguably the peak of their powers and the inevitability of their success.
The double daggers of 2004 might have been all Kobe Bryant, but for Blazer fans, it sure must have (and still) invoked memories of the duo in 2000.
Kobe met with an early death and Shaq is long retired, but the ghosts of the past certainly haunt Portland. The franchise still awaits revenge, and a more recent playoff series loss is only bound to have added to the pain.