The Kobe Bryant retirement tour has brought occasional on-court highlights along with the tributes and appreciations of ugliness. Who could forget Kobe's 31 points against the Washington Wizards or ... OK, maybe there haven't been that many highlights. But there's still something a little fun about seeing a man who was once good enough to get away with creating most of his own nicknames momentarily recapture his form.
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The Los Angeles Lakers icon had perhaps his most exciting moment of the season early in the third quarter of Thursday's game against the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. With a little under 9:30 remaining in the period, Kobe drove to the hoop from the wing and rose up for a very impressive dunk on big man Clint Capela, a capable rim protector. Take a look:


Basketball Reference data indicates that this was Kobe's first dunk in 2015-16. Given what we've seen from Kobe these last few months, it wouldn't be shocking if it ended up as his only slam of the year. It'll almost certainly be his best.
Capela tweeted after the game about the play. It looks like Kobe wasn't even ready for the dunk:
@kobebryant told me that he surprised himself with that one, Me too ?????????? #StillGotIt Great team win #RedNation #Pursuit

— Clint Capela (@CapelaClint) December 18, 2015
As Capela notes, Kobe's dunk didn't factor in much to the final result. He finished with a team-high 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting as the Lakers fell 107-87 to the Rockets, now just a game under .500 at 13-14.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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