For one quarter, nearly two, Kobe Bryant waited. He drew the defense away from his teammates, he watched their confidence build and, still, the Denver Nuggets clung to the Los Angeles Lakers. No, this wasn’t good enough. The NBA Finals were too close, too fragile an opportunity, to leave this night to chance, and Bryant knew it.

As the final few minutes of the first half started to tick away, he stepped into a short jump shot. A 22-footer over Carmelo Anthony followed. Anthony pressed closer the next time down the floor, but Bryant rose higher still, burying yet another dagger.

Before the Nuggets could look up, Bryant had the ball back in his hands, launching a 3-pointer from the right corner that slipped through the net just as easily as the three shots before it. Denver coach George Karl later joked that during those three minutes even “Jesus would have had trouble” covering Bryant and, some 2,200 miles away in a Florida hotel room, another basketball god was likely watching.

LeBron James?

Your turn.