Last night’s Laker game was remarkable for a lot of reasons. For one, Kobe Bryant scored 41 points to carry the Lakers despite being under the weather since Tuesday. So, yeah: he played 48 minutes for the Lakers on the second night of back-to-back games, both of which he’d been sick for, and he scored 41 points. Kobe Bryant is f’ing incredible. It’s nights like this--against a crappy Rockets team, in a meaningless game that nobody watches--that truly define greatness, and Kobe’s been going strong for more than a decade. Very impressive.
BUT... The real story was Derek Fisher, who started at point guard for the Lakers and played 34 minutes, but failed to register any points, assists, or rebounds in that span. Pretty remarkable. Ordinarily, it’s funny to look over the box score to see which 12th man entered the game, played less than a minute, and failed to register any stat. It’s rare, but happens more often than you think. On the internet, this is called a “Mario.“
Derek Fisher: The Greatest Invisible Player Ever
But Fisher played THIRTY-FOUR MINUTES and didn’t do anything. I mean, wow. THAT is an accomplishment. He was 0-5 shooting on the night, which obviously hurts, but Fisher made up for it elsewhere. On the game’s decisive possession in overtime, Fisher stripped Houston’s Trevor Ariza, securing the win for L.A., and making Fisher the most improbable, statistically invisible hero of all time.
It prompted Phil Jackson to say this post-game, "That's why he's out there. Fish is a scrappy player. He's going to put his mark on a game one way or the other." He put his mark on the game alright... Maybe even put his mark on history, as John Hollinger said, "He played remarkably well at the defensive end, drew three offensive fouls and two key steals. Best 0-0-0 game ever." And now I don't know whether all this has been sarcastic or not... Because damn, that does sound like a pretty solid game, right?
