Exit, stage astounding

And now Politically Incorrect Man rises up this glorious morning, asking indelicate questions. He simply will not stay in his box, Politically Incorrect Man. Houdini had nothing on him.

And so here he is, a few short hours after Kobe Bryant signed off on his career by dropping 60, yes, 60, on the Utah Jazz: "Was that a legit 60 or an All-Star Game 60?"

And also: "After all, he took 50 shots. Even Kobe's dad could still put up numbers if he jacked up 50 shots."

I have to admit it.: I really did think this, if only briefly. And -- be honest, now -- so did you, if only briefly.

But then I thought some more, and I came to the conclusion it doesn't matter. The man hung 60 on a legitimate NBA team in a legitimate NBA game. He outscored the entire Jazz team 23-21 in the fourth quarter. And he singlehandedly brought the Lakers back from the dead to notch the "W."

I don't care if he did take 50 shots to do all that. I don't care if the Jazz were only half-trying to stop him (although, down the stretch in a game they were leading, it's hard to imagine they weren't trying just a little). He still did it. After 20 years in the league, and with a body that has been broken irretrievably by those 20 years, he somehow reached back and gave us one last night of vintage Kobe on the last night of a vintage career.

Name me someone else, in the same situation,  who did anything remotely like it. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Truth serum here: I am not a Kobe Bryant fan. I still wonder what happened with that young woman in that hotel room in Colorado. I wonder why she backed out of testifying (although it isn't that hard to figure out, given Kobe's celebrity and her lack of same). I wonder why Kobe wound up settling with her in a civil suit if the entire encounter was completely innocent.

So, there's that. And there's the fact that putting up 50 shots in his last game was completely in character for him. And there's the fact that numerous people in a position to know think he's not particularly a prince of a guy.

But on the last night of his career, he did something legendary. As befits a legend.

So props to him.