Kobe Bryant Goes out in Style
BARNETT: All right. We've got two huge stories in the world of pro basketball to bring you. First the final NBA game for future hall of famer Kobe Bryant.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the final time number 24 on the floor, 6'8", five-time world champion Kobe Bryant.</s>CHURCH: There he is. Bryant was on fire, scoring 60 points as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Utah Jazz. Bryant is retiring after 20 seasons in the NBA, 18 of them as an all-star. He led the Lakers to five championships and finishes as the league's number three all-time leading scorer.</s>BARNETT: And our Paul Vercammen was there at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He's staying up late for us, which we appreciate. And Paul, it's a pretty remarkable farewell performance for a guy who spent, what, two decades on the court and bounced back from an Achilles injury.</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: oh, absolutely, Errol and Rosemary. That's why there's so much admiration for Kobe. When you talk to his teammates and the fans here today, they all talked about the Achilles injury and the shoulder injury and more injuries mounting and every time somehow he gritted his teeth and he came back. What did they want tonight? They exhorted him. There was adrenaline just shot through this place. They wanted Kobe to score. And the points began to mount. Twenty, then 30. I asked him. I said, Kobe, what was going on between you and your teammates? What were they saying? And he kind of laughed and here's what he had to say about that.</s>KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS MEMBER: My teammates were just continuing to encourage me and continuing to say, "dude, shoot, shoot, shoot." I was like -- it's like reverse. You know, it's a weird year. You know what I mean? Like you go from being the villain to now being some type of a hero and then from everybody saying pass the ball to shoot the ball. It's like really strange.</s>VERCAMMEN: He had a good laugh about that and then a joyous celebration after. Many of Kobe's former teammates going on the course with him as he bid a fond farewell to all of his fans. And finally in the end he basically looked at the crowd and he said "mamba," his nickname, "out." It was a tremendous moment. People almost just couldn't believe that he scored 60 points in his final, final game here. Just an incredible moment inside there, Errol and Rosemary.</s>BARNETT: Yes.</s>CHURCH: It is. And a magnificent way to bow out. So, Paul, let's look at his legacy after 20 years in his great career and also what he might be doing in the years ahead now.</s>VERCAMMEN: Well, first off, as you pointed out in the intro, he is the third leading scorer in NBA history. And everyone will remember the championships. This league is based on that. I mean, when you talk to these players, they all want to talk about what did you win, when did you win, who were you playing against. And remember, in this era Kobe has someone else who won five championships, Tim Duncan. They often pushed each other. And they maybe in a way cut into each other's championship total. And then down the road, Kobe has often said that he enjoys storytelling. It sounds as if he's going to get into possibly some sort of film production. He also vowed that starting tomorrow he's going to continue to work out because he heard the stories about former athletes who don't work out, let themselves go, never get into the gym and the next thing you know they put on quite a few pounds or so, Rosemary and Errol.</s>BARNETT: I hope he's not implying Shaquille O'Neal is what he's trying to avoid there. I don't know. I was in L.A. Look, it was all about Kobe. It was all about the Lakers. But what will the team be now without him?</s>VERCAMMEN: Well, now comes rebuilding. And there's some flexibility to rebuild because don't forget, Kobe commanded a very high salary. So, the Lakers can go about this rebuilding process in two ways. They have a corps now of four, fairly good young players in Clarkson and Randle and Russell and Nance. And they can go on the free agent market and pull somebody in. And they also have an extremely high draft pick this year with two rather good players coming out, Ingram of Duke. And they also have the LSU player whose name escapes me really quick. You've got to forgive me. But anyway, both of them could be a solution to their problems. Will they be in the playoffs again next year? Probably too early to say. Simmons is the LSU player. But we'll have to just check and see. They've got some money to spend. So, that's going to be quite interesting, Errol and Rosemary.</s>BARNETT: Yes. Paul Vercammen, it's approaching 1 a.m. there. So, you're completely excused.</s>CHURCH: Great night of reporting there, right?</s>BARNETT: That's right. Go out and celebrate. We appreciate you joining us. And also in Oakland the Golden State Warriors hold the record for the most wins in a regular season. They beat the Memphis Grizzlies just a few hours ago for victory number 73.</s>CHURCH: The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls held the previous record of 72. No other team in NBA history has ever won more than 70 regular season games. How about that?</s>BARNETT: Now U.S. President Barack Obama's a huge basketball fan, especially of his hometown Chicago Bulls.</s>CHURCH: Yes. He tweeted "congrats to the Warriors. A great group of guys on and off the court. If somebody had to break the Bulls' record, I'm glad it's them."</s>BARNETT: All right. Good stuff there. Now to a shocking upset in the European Champions League. Reigning title holder Barcelona crashed out at the quarterfinal stage with Atletico Madrid winning 2-0.</s>CHURCH: And Juan Griezmann scored twice for Atletico while Lionel Messi is in his longest drought, actually, since 2010. He's now gone scoreless for 452 minutes. Who's counting? Barcelona was trying to become the first team in history to hold on to its Champions League crown.</s>BARNETT: You should do sports anchoring. You're so good at that.</s>CHURCH: It's so me.</s>BARNETT: All right. Coming up, two glorious young royal couples meeting for the first time.</s>CHURCH: Yes. You'll see why there's so much buzz about Prince William and Catherine's visit to a tiny kingdom in the Himalayas.</s>DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A very complex and slow-moving storm system will evolve across the Central United States, bringing the potential for severe weather across the plains and hefty snowfall throughout the Rocky Mountains. Here's a look at our upper-level energy, and it's starting to form what is called an omega block. This is significant because it slows down the weather patterns across the United States when this type of setup takes place with the jet streams. You can see the temperatures warm to the east with our severe weather threat drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and our heavy snow wrapping in on the cold side of this low pressure system. Here it is evolving across the Pacific Northwest, picking up its energy and moisture along with it, and we'll start to look out for the potential of strong damaging winds from Nebraska into the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle. That's really for the late Friday and into Saturday time frame. But in the meantime, we warm up for places like Denver and Dallas, temperatures in the middle and upper 20s, 16 for Chicago. The big apple matching that same daytime high with plenty of blue skies overhead. Look at the heat developing across Nicaragua at 37 with sunshine overhead. Plenty of thunderstorms into Colombia and parts of Venezuela. We also have a cold front moving into the extreme southern sections of South America.