By Rahman Dukes
It's getting hot out in the wild, wild West. With his back against the wall, Monsta Kobe refused to hand over his reigning NBA crown reminding a young Oklahoma City Thunder why they won the chip last year, dismantling the Thunder 111-87 during the fifth game of their opening round series on Tuesday night (April 27). From the tip, the Lakers went on a 10-0 run and never looked back with their lead over the Thunder going as high as 40 points at one moment. Bryant ended the game with a mere 13 points and seven assists, focusing more on defense and letting Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum handle the scoring.
As the case with all Lakers games, the sidelines were filled with some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Leonardo DiCaprio, Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Sylvester Stallone and Dustin Hoffman were all in attendance to witness the dismantling. Even O.G. playboy Hugh Hefner found enough time to stop playing with his bunnies to witness the Lakers hand out the beating.
One notably absent supporter was Ice Cube. Cube and his family have been snapped sitting on the sidelines at the Lakers show for years, but was a no-show last night. When we caught up with Cube last week (to discuss his excellent new single "I Rep That West"), he told us he hoped to finally see a Kobe and LeBron in a showdown in the Finals (though he'll still be putting his moolah on the Lakers).