The Los Angeles Lakers' G League team, the South Bay Lakers, needed this kind of performance now more than ever.
To end South Bay's three-game losing streak, shooting guard Kobe Bufkin scored 42 points in a 141-130 victory against the Rip City Remix on Sunday.
Bufkin, a University of Michigan product, shot an efficient 13-20 from the field and added six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block.
The Atlanta Hawks selected Bufkin 15th overall in the 2023 NBA Draft, playing a combined 27 games with them across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. So far, he has not spent any time with the Lakers' top team.
Bufkin is a gifted scorer
Bufkin shares a first name with the late, great Kobe Bryant, but will obviously need a lot more 40-point games to be on the same level as the Lakers legend.
As a sophomore at Michigan, Bufkin received a 2023 third-team All-Big Ten selection. In 33 games, he averaged 14 points per game while shooting 35% from three-point range. He led the Wolverines with 34 minutes played per game.
Bufkin scored a career-high 28 points against Wisconsin on February 26, 2023, and his shooting abilities have clearly blossomed since. A couple more performances like Sunday's, and Bufkin may earn himself a standard contract in the NBA.
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