Rashad McCants made headlines for all the wrong reasons this week after a wild appearance on the Out The Mud podcast with Tony Allen and Zach Randolph. In a jaw-dropping exchange that left even Tony Allen in disbelief, McCants boldly claimed that he could have scored 81 points in an NBA game, just like Kobe Bryant famously did back in 2006.
McCants speaking passionately:
“Bro, I know this game to the teeth and I study with the great n***a so he told me how to be the great n***a without having to say a fucking word. N***a, get these numbers every quarter, no threes, no free throws, you guaranteed these points, then you put that in, I could get 81.”
“If I factor this in, factor this in, I got 15 in the first, that was easy doing nothing was easy.”
An utterly confused Tony Allen interrupted, asking, “What 81 are you talking about?”
Without hesitation, McCants replied, “Kobe’s 81.”
Rashad McCants: "Get these numbers every quarter, no threes, no free throws… I could get 81 [points]… I got 15 in the 1st [quarter]. That was easy."
"What 81 are you talking about?"
McCants: "Kobe [Bryant's] 81." 👀
(via @OutTheMudTL)pic.twitter.com/5XWTCkPHsw
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 26, 2025
The stunned reaction from Allen said it all. Smiling in disbelief, he quickly wrapped up the podcast, thanking McCants and the viewers and essentially ending the episode to avoid the conversation spiraling further. It was a fittingly awkward end to one of the most outrageous claims an NBA player has made in recent memory.
For context, Rashad McCants’ actual NBA career does not support the idea that he could have ever replicated Kobe Bryant’s 81-point masterpiece.
McCants played four seasons in the NBA after being drafted 14th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2005 NBA Draft. Across his career, he averaged 10.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the field and 34.3% from three-point range.
His best individual season came in 2007–08 when he averaged 14.9 points per game in 26.9 minutes, shooting a respectable 40.8% from beyond the arc. That year was also the peak of his NBA journey, as McCants never came close to sustaining star-level production.
As for single-game heroics, McCants’ career-high in points is 34, which he accomplished on February 6, 2008, against the Denver Nuggets. His highest scoring quarter? 15 points, hardly the kind of numbers that suggest he was ever on the verge of a Kobe-like explosion.
Meanwhile, Kobe’s 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006 remains one of the most iconic individual performances in NBA history.
Kobe’s night included 28-of-46 shooting, 7-of-13 from three-point range, and 18-of-20 from the free-throw line. It wasn’t just about scoring; it was about endurance, efficiency, and an almost supernatural takeover of a professional basketball game.
In contrast, McCants never even posted a 40-point game in his entire NBA career, let alone sustained dominance through four quarters at that level. His NBA journey ended after brief stints with the Timberwolves and Kings, followed by attempts to revive his career overseas and in minor leagues.
While confidence is admirable, McCants’ claim of being able to reach 81 points seemed to even amuse Tony Allen, one of the fiercest defenders of his era. Allen’s quick exit from the conversation summed up what everyone listening already knew, Rashad McCants may have been a talented scorer, but he was never Kobe Bryant.
